During the month of September, the Artists' Cooperative Gallery will feature the work of member artists Virginia Ocken, Linda Hatfield and Holly Tharnish. The show runs August 29 – October 1, 2023. Please join us at the opening reception on Friday, September 1, 6 to 9 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided.
Virginia truly loves painting more abstractly. Not knowing what the finished product will be had been a challenge for her, but now, allowing the paint to show her the way teaches her to trust in the process. Sometimes her finished product is totally nonobjective, but often imagination reveals images that may or may not get evolved in the final painting. That way, the audience can bring more of their own interpretation.
Linda's use of color is always "Lively" and this show is no different. She believes color can convey many emotions, but her colors are mostly about joy. She frequently punctuates her pieces with some black and white “pauses” to give the eye a rest from the constant bursts of solid color. Her fused glass pieces follow the same design direction along with a similar, but limited, color palette. The organic nature of wood and the clean glossiness of the glass make interesting contrasts for her personal visual language.
Holly's paintings explore themes of childhood and storytelling. This collection of new work includes examinations of quilt and textile patterns, still lifes of collected treasures, conversations between objects that sparked joy in her earliest years and things that remained constantly in sight as she "grew up". Though her work examines the makings of her own childhood, it welcomes the viewer into a world where imagining what a polka-dot elephant might say to a teddy bear at a tea party is still possible.
In addition to our monthly feature exhibition, in September we are also welcoming work by current University of Nebraska-Omaha students in our second UNO student showcase. Organized in conjunction with the UNO Art Club, the showcase will feature two-dimensional artwork on display in our front gallery space.