New Exhibits in May at Gallery A3
Sue Curran, For Diana, mixed media collage on paper. Photo: c/o Gallery A3
Source: Gallery A3
Mixed media collages on paper by Sue Curran join acrylic paintings on glass by GK Khalsa at Gallery A3 in May. On display May 7–30, with the Opening Reception on May 8, 5–7 pm. Gallery A3 is located at 28 Amity Street 1D in the Amherst Cinema Complex. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 2-7 p.m.
About the Exhibit
Sue Curran, Duality
Inspired by looking at all kinds of art, people-watching, and physical activity like swimming and riding a bicycle, guest artist Sue Curran turns to gouache, ink, and watercolor crayons for her mixed media work on paper. Size and scale are user-friendly, with the artist noting that her favored dimensions of 11 by 14 inches feel “approachable—not too big and not too small.” Hands-on, not high-tech, guides her method. As she adds and removes layer upon layer of texture, she creates a kind of dream landscape in collage. “I return to the image of two women frequently,” Sue says. “The two figures represent the duality I experience in everyday life: memory and anticipation, emptiness and abundance, convergence of past and present, and the desire to connect with an impulse to isolate.”
GK Khalsa, Smoke and Steam: Locomotive
With historic black-and-white photographs of trains as source material, GK Khalsa uses the technique of reverse painting directly on glass to look back in time. “I’m not aiming for photo-realism,” he explains, “but the spirit of the times and the sense of adventure of traveling by train.” In some images, locomotives speed across an open landscape; in others, a human figure is tightly juxtaposed with, and often dwarfed by, powerful, large-scale engines. Because the old photographs emphasize the drama of light and shadow, GK limits his palette to three colors—white, light gray, dark gray—and their tonal variations. He often spray-paints the back of the glass—white, black, or metallic silver—bringing an overall visual unity to the image and evoking late 19th century photographic glass plates.
About Gallery A3
A cooperative, contemporary fine arts gallery located in downtown Amherst, Gallery A3 is celebrating its 24th anniversary this year. Current members include painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers, and mixed media artists. Over its two-decade history, A3 has been home to over 75 member-artists, mounting monthly exhibits and offering cultural events and community collaborations. The Gallery hosts opening receptions for exhibits every month and outreach programs, free and open to the public, are scheduled on the third Thursday. The Art for Community II program is supported in part by a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.