Newly Selected Artists-Amber Robles-Gordon

Amber Robles-Gordon, En homenaje al amor, la naturaleza y la amistad. (In tribute to love, nature, and friendship), contributing artist Wesley Clark, Elana Casey, Lavett Ballard, 2023, mixed media installation, 84 x 88 in (quilt).

Amber Robles-Gordon, Soy Luz, amor, y frecuencia.(I am light, love and frequency), 2023, mixed media, 80 x 60 in.

Amber Robles-Gordon, Una visión de sí misma (A Vision of Self), contributing artist Zoe Charlton, 2023, mixed media quilt, 95 x 84 in.

Amber Robles-Gordon, Restos (Remnants), 2023, mixed media installation, 68 x 94 in.

Amber Robles-Gordon, Gradiente púrpura: Recuerdos de Tailandia, Miami y Barbados (Purple Gradient - Memories of Thailand, Miami, and Barbados), contributing artist Alanzo Robles-Gordon, 2023, mixed media assemblage, 26.25 x 17 in.

Amber Robles-Gordon, Gradiente naranjado- Vistas aéreas que despiertan lo matrilineal y los orbes (Orange Gradient - Arial views awakening the matrilineal and orbs), contributing artist Alanzo Robles-Gordon, 2023, mixed media assemblage, 37.75 x 16.5 in.

Amber Robles-Gordon, Gradiente rosado - Cielos brillantes rojo, turquesas y blancos (Pink Gradient - Red, turquoise and white shimmering skies), contributing artist Alanzo Robles-Gordon, 2023, mixed media assemblage, 23.5 x 19.5 in.

Amber Robles-Gordon, Gradiente Verde - Impresiones de ontono y un ciervo (Green Gradient - Impressions of fall and a deer), contributing artist Alanzo Robles-Gordon, 2023, mixed media assemblage, 23.5 x 19.5 in.

Amber Robles-Gordon, Gradiente Amarillo - Algunos detalles encantados de SE, PR, y Barbados (Yellow Gradient - A few enchanted from SE, Puerto Rico, and Barbados) , contributing artist Alanzo Robles-Gordon, 2023, mixed media assemblage, 27.75 x 17.25 in.

Amber Robles-Gordon, Me abrigué con mis plantas y la luz del sol (I surrounded myself with plants, and light) I & II, 2023, collage, 38 x 19 in (each).

Amber Robles-Gordon
Remnants: A visual journey of memory and renewal
May 6–May 28, 2023

Amber Robles-Gordon is drawn to the terms, remnants, slivers, and fragments, and believes we are all a compilation of pieces of our experiences, influences, and choices. She uses her artwork to explore and share her perception of cellular and spiritual energy. And, for Robles- Gordon, artwork is the language she uses to discover, understand and express the condition of life and its connection to her soul.

In this series, Robles-Gordon explores the emotional, physical, and psychic processes of loss. This body of work conveys the mental and physical effort it takes to move through loss. The artist works sequentially and within these works, deploying the lenses of abstraction, realism, photography, sacred geometry, symbolism, and installation art to convey a journey of self-awareness and growth. Together, these artworks present a visual telling of love, loss, and healing.

Along this journey, Robles-Gordon convened with friends and incredibly talented artists Zoë Charlton, Lavett Ballard, Wesley Clark, Elana Casey, and Alanzo Robles-Gordon, to join and partner with her in this visual storytelling. She thanks them for their friendship.

About the artist:

Amber Robles-Gordon is a mixed media visual artist of Puerto Rican and West Indian heritage. She has over twenty years of exhibiting, art education, commissioned critiques, workshops, lectures, art commentary, and exhibition coordinating experience with various television and radio stations, museums, universities/colleges, podcasts, and art organizations.

She received a Bachelor of Science, Business Administration in 2005 at Trinity University, and subsequently a Master’s in Fine Arts (Painting) in 2011 from Howard University, Washington, DC. Her exhibitions and artwork have been reviewed and/or featured in numerous magazines, journals, newspapers, and art publications. She is known for her commissioned site-specific public art installations for numerous art institutions, universities, research centers, and fairs.

Zhenya Parish, A Story, 2023, mixed media on canvas, 140 x 72 in.

Zhenya Parish, An Eagle's Beak, 2021, mixed media on canvas, 48 x 48 in.

Zhenya Parish, Flash: Insecurities, 2022, mixed media on canvas, 35.5 x 35 in.

Zhenya Parish, Flash: Love, 2022, mixed media on canvas, 36 x 60 in.

Zhenya Parish, Flash: Pull, 2022, mixed media on canvas, 48 x 60.5 in.

Zhenya Parish, Flash: Rejection, 2022, mixed media on canvas, 32 x 36 in.

Zhenya Parish, Primordial, mixed media on canvas, 36 x 72 in.

Zhenya Parish, Rhizome: Beyond Limit, 2022, mixed media on canvas, 48 x 60 in.

Zhenya Parish, Studio: Farewell I, 2022, mixed media on canvas, 22 x 22 in.

Zhenya Parish, Studio: Farewell II, 2022, mixed media on canvas, 22 x 22 in.

Zhenya Parish
The Art of Letting Go
May 6–May 28, 2023

The pieces chosen for this exhibition are relatively recent. They reflect an evolving use of abstraction to capture a practice of observation and interaction. The works have their origin, primarily, in live painting events the artist held throughout DC, Maryland, and Virginia. During this time, Parish returned to larger canvases to explore a dialogue and symbology of perceived experiences. She did not begin with a pre-established method for their creation, but encouraged participation and interaction with audiences and other performing artists. The only primary understanding was The Art of Letting Go. What was revealed on the canvas constantly evolved over the course of an evening. Parish did not commit to any temporary perception, but practiced the art of opening up to constantly change the experience.

In this exhibition, Parish hopes that these pieces will challenge the viewer to find a new point of relation and help create a moment of understanding, appreciation, or feeling.
We live in flux. Embrace it.

About the artist:

Parish’s love, desire and persistence for art was born and developed in Russia, starting with teenage art school in Voronezh, where she received her classical, Post-Soviet art training and education. After the unfortunate death of her mother, Parish made her way to the US and Kansas State University, where she graduated with a Fine Arts, Oil Painting degree. Her paintings were raw and dark with windows of light, simplified in shapes and colors to reflect her childhood. Moving to DC after graduation, she began a new life, eventually becoming a mother. She began creating out of her bag of tools, canvases, and colors a basis upon which she would challenge and surpass their utilitarian limitations. She began to explore live and interactive art creations, and Canvas Vibrations was born. In recent years, she have found studio space and has been working to leverage that into new and refined explorations.

Claudia Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Dawn Flight /Flight Dawn, 2022, acrylic paint and colored pencil on handmade paper, 25 x 30 x 4 in.

Claudia Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Skyborne Deliverance, 2022, acrylic paint and colored pencil on handmade paper, 43 x 7 x 5.5 in.

Claudia Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Migration of the Spirit, Flight School Series, 2022, acrylic paint and colored pencil, 15 x 26 x 3 in.

Claudia Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Night Flight, Flight School Series, 2022, acrylic paint and colored pencil, 23.5 x 30.25 x 5 in.

Claudia Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Aint Got No Wings for Night Blues, Flight School Series, 2022, acrylic paint and colored pencil, 15 x 17 x 7 in.

Claudia Aziza Gibson-Hunter, A Moment to Rise Up 2022 acrylic paint, colored pencil, embossing powder, artist-made and commercial paper on cradled board 8.5 x 13 x 4.5 in.

Claudia Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Ring Shouts in Scarlet Dusk, Flight School Series 2022, acrylic paint and colored pencil, 26.5 x 30 x 6.5 in.

Claudia Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Youve Got to Give Up the Stuff That Weighs You Down, 2022, acrylic paint and colored pencil, 100.5 x 50.75 in.

Claudia Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Loppholes of Redemption, Flight School Series, 2023, acrylic paint and colored pencil, 47.5 x 100.5 in.

Claudia Aziza Gibson-Hunter, BA KA, Flight School Series, 2023, acrylic paint and colored pencil, 47.5 x 100.5 in.

Claudia “Aziza” Gibson-Hunter
Flight School
May 6–May 28, 2023

“…spiritual technologies are repeated cultural practices meant to alter the mind, body, or spirit of an individual or community.”
(Spiritual Technologies Project)

Claudia “Aziza” Gibson-Hunter understands flight to be spiritual technology. It is a powerful technology which creates a dimension that provides protection for the soul. From the stories collected by Zora Neale Hurston to Alvin Ailey’s Revelation to gospel music lyrics, flight has been more than a verb. Flight is also a noun, a spiritual state of being that creates a loophole of redemption. It is in this state/place that Black folk heal, plan, prepare, and imagine, expanding creative and intellectual energy. Though the body and mind are bombarded with racist restraints, this place can be activated. Given the aggressive attempts to further dissolve the promise of a people, this is a time to activate flight, hence the title Flight School. Gibson-Hunter explores this notion of flight through abstraction.

About the artist:

Ms. Gibson-Hunter is an abstract mixed media artist. She blends painting, printmaking, collage, papermaking, and assemblage to investigate themes of agency, memory, and spirituality. Acrylic paint and colored pencil are combined with commercial and artist-made papers. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Aziza graduated from Temple University (BS) and Howard University (MFA). Ms. Gibson-Hunter has been awarded the Individual Artist Fellowship Program Grant, from the DC Commission of the Arts and Humanities, numerous times. Her work can be found in the collections of the Washington DC Art Bank and the US Embassy in Liberia. She has also held positions at Parsons School of Art, Howard University, and Bowie State University. Ms. Gibson-Hunter is a member of the Black female collectives Dandelion Black, THOUGHT, and WOAUA. She is a cofounding member of Black Artists of DC and operates a studio located within the STABLE art complex in Washington, DC.

Sharon Shapiro, Influence, 2023, oil on linen, 24 x 30 in

Sharon Shapiro, The Boulevard is not that bad, 2022, oil, acrylic, and glitter on canvas, 50 x 70 in

Sharon Shapiro, Chasing Likes, 2022, oil and airbrush on linen, 30 x 24 in

Sharon Shapiro, Ephemeral Content, 2023, oil and airbrush on canvas, 72 x 52 in

Sharon Shapiro, Don’t Be Scared, 2022, oil on canvas over linen, 20 x 24 in

Sharon Shapiro, Unfollowers, 2022, oil and spray paint on canvas, 78 x 52 in

Sharon Shapiro, Desert Fountain (Sahara), 2023, oil and airbrush on linen, 24 x 18 in

Sharon Shapiro, Cry Deeply, 2023, oil and airbrush on linen, 32 x 46 in

Sharon Shapiro
Visionary Picnic
April 8–April 30, 2023

Visionary Picnic is a new body of work that began with a large-scale painting titled The Boulevard is not that bad (2022). Based on photos of two friends who modeled outdoors behind her studio, the image references Manet’s Le Déjeuner Sur l’herbe (1862) and Cezanne’s Luncheon on the Grass (1869). Shapiro staged the scene to look like a picnic, using props given to her over the years: a teapot, champagne, a quilt, and a picnic basket. These everyday items allowed her to weave her memories into a scene that manifests leisure and bounty.

The painting serves as the axis for the exhibit; the concept of a picnic and its multiple associations became Shapiro’s focus while preparing for the show. In most straightforward definitions, ‘picnic’ means ‘an outdoor meal, often in which the ‘participants bring food and other items with them’; it can also mean ‘an easy undertaking’ or a ‘fun experience.’ By leaving men out of these images, Shapiro emphasizes the agency and intimacy of the women.

In her use of graffiti in the paintings and on the gallery wall, Shapiro juxtaposes a dystopian element against the ideal of contently being in nature. Visionary Picnic celebrates the space between Arcadia and scrolling iPhones, between being self-conscious and totally unguarded. Shapiro questions how far we can get away from our anxiety when we allow ourselves to go on an imaginary excursion.

About the artist:

Sharon Shapiro is a Virginia-based artist with a versatile painting practice. Shapiro has shown throughout the United States, including one and two-person exhibitions at SPRING/BREAK Art Show, NYC; the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, Arlington, VA; {Poem 88} Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Garvey Simon Projects, NYC; and the Gadsden Museum of Art, Gadsden, AL. Her group exhibitions include the Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; Maine Center for Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME; the McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA; and the Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA. She has been in residence at Ucross, Jentel, Ragdale, The Hambidge Center, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her practice has received grant support, including two awards from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and she was the recipient of the Atelier Focus Fellowship at AIR SFI in Georgia. Her work has been featured in New American Paintings, Whitewall, Art Spiel, Studio Visit, The Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, and Kolaj Magazine. Shapiro holds an MFA from the Maine College of Art and a BFA from the Atlanta College of Art. She currently shows her work with Garvey|Simon in New York City and San Anselmo, California.

Sookkyung Park, Blooming (I,II,III,IV), 2021-2023, origami, bamboo, traditional paper, wired paper strings, cutting paper & thread, 7ft(H)×12ft×12ft (dimensions variable)

Sookkyung Park, Series of Blooming, 2023, Printmaking, traditional paper, 18 x 11.7, edition of 5

Sookkyung Park, Series of Blooming, 2023, Printmaking, traditional paper, 18 x 11.7, edition of 4

Sookkyung Park, Series of Blooming, 2023, Printmaking, traditional paper, 18 x 11.7, edition of 3

Sookkyung Park, Series of Blooming, 2023, Printmaking, traditional paper, 18 x 11.7, edition of 2

Sookkyung Park, Series of Blooming, 2023, Printmaking, traditional paper, 18 x 11.7, edition of 1

Sookkyung Park, Series of Blooming, 2023, Printmaking, traditional paper, 9 x 11.7, edition of 1-2

Sookkyung Park, Series of Blooming, 2023, Printmaking, traditional paper, 9 x 11.7, edition of 1-1

Sookkyung Park
Blooming
April 8–April 30, 2023

Sookkyung Park believes that one small seed is the source, from which a new living organism is born. This work was created to convey the notion that we always live with hope and our lives will bear abundant fruit just as the roots of a plant grow endlessly. Using white traditional paper, viewers can clearly see how the paper textures are interconnected. This is to show how the roots of a tree are connected to each other.

In addition, the jellyfish shape, which is made of numerous thinly cut papers in rainbow colors emphasizes the message of hope like a flower seed that spreads far. Small origami lotus flowers made in different colors represent the diversity of our community, just as everyone in the Greater Community lives in harmony with each other in order to strike a balance. Each form is connected with silk thread to create a moving sculpture.

About the artist:

Sookkyung Park established an Arts & Crafts studio in 1982 and maintained the studio for 25 years in South Korea. In 2011, she emigrated to the U.S. in her 50’s and received a B.A. in Studio Arts from University of Maryland, College Park in 2016. After graduating, she joined the HMAA GW (Han-Mee Artists Association of the Great Washington DC). She was selected in several regional and international juried exhibitions. Her works have been featured in many publications, including The Washington Post, The Korea Times, East City Art, Bmore Art, MAP, WSG news, AA&CC, Maryland State Arts Council and etc. She was awarded the Best Award twice from the CAGO (Contemporary Art Gallery Online) for 3-D Category Part in 2020 and 2021. Park is currently the Member of Washington Sculptors Group, President of the HMAA GW and TU MFA Candidate in 2023.