Sagittarius Gallery's Profile

From: Schenectady, NY
Joined: November 02, 2007
http://www.sagittariusgallery.com

About sagittariusgallery:

Although I've been painting since my age was measured in months (my mom, a toll painter, would give me scraps of wood from her projects, a cup of water, and a brush for me to "paint" with....) I really became serious with it in '99 during my last years of high school. Resigned to my profession I was accepted to Montserrat College of Art on scholarship and concentrated on painting.

Sagittarius Gallery, my business, was started in April of 2003 and since then I have been blessed to have over 250 patrons on 5 continents. I have shown at several galleries including Karin Sanders Fine Art in Sag Harbor, NY, Robert Dowling Studios and Gallery in Bangor, ME, the gallery walk at Memories on Market LLC in Oshkosh, WI, as well as a solo show at the Gallery and Grille in Newburyport, MA. My work has been featured by the online Self-representing artists website EBSQ as well as the web zine Pedestal Magazine. My work has also been shown at the Empire State Legislative Building in Albany, NY, First National Bank of Scotia in Scotia, NY, and several student shows at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA during my time as a student.


I am influenced by all around me but have an affinity for the Abstract Expressionists such as Rothko. de Kooning, and more contemporary examples such as Susan Rothenburg and Cecily Brown. I am in love with my palette knife and thick oil paint but I do utilize a bevy of different media and techniques to illustrate my unique vision. Melted crayola crayons, Testors model car enamels, sharpee pens...anything is fair game.

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Resume -

--Education--
2001-2003 Montserrat College of Art, Beverly MA with a concentration in painting,


--Gallery representation--
2006 Karin Sanders Fine Art Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY
2006 Robert Dowling Studios and Gallery, Bangor, ME
2005 Phidias Gallery, Schenectady, NY


--Solo Exhibitions--
2003 Gallery and Grille, Newburyport, MA


--Group Exhibitions--
2007 Projekt30 April Exhibition (www.projekt30.com)
2006 Summer Group Exhibition, Karin Sanders Fine Art, Sag Harbor, NY
"Random Inclinations" Robert Dowling Studios and Gallery, Bangor, ME
"One" Robert Dowling Studios and Gallery, Bangor, ME
2005 Phidias Art Gallery, Schenectady, NY
2004 Monthly gallery walk, Memories on Market LLC Gallery, Oshkosh, WI
2003 "Recent Prints Exhibition", Montserrat College of Art
Summer Exhibition, Montserrat College of Art
2001-2003 Montserrat College of Art student exhibitions
1999 First National Bank, Scotia, NY
Annual Empire State Art Exhibit, Empire State Legislative Building, Albany, NY


--Projects and Competitions--
2006 Featured in "Art Now Global Art Competition"
2004 "Tigerlillies" - members mention in the EBSQ sponsored show, "Abstract Expressions"
2003 Artist Statement Slam, Oni Gallery, Boston, MA
1999 Forest mural in Scotia-Glenville High School main office, Scotia, NY -Participation in the Olympics of the Visual Arts


--Featured Artist--
2004 Featured artist for the month of February at EBSQ
Featured at Pedistal Magazine


--Publications / Media--
2006 “Emotional Intensity Links Disparate Pieces” by Eric Ernst, Review of Karin Sanders Fine Art exhibition. South Hampton Papers, 8/06
“Art Gallery in the Hamptons: Karin Sanders Fine Art” by Pete Duhon, Review of my
work, featuring my piece “Sometimes it's the Mistakes We Make”. Art Comments blog, 8/06 -
http://artcomments.blogspot.com/2006/08/art-gallery-in-hamptons-karin-sanders.html
2004 Interview for EBSQ Self-Representing Artists by Amie Gillingham. 2/04
http://www.ebsqart.com/Artists/cmd_599_profile_interview.htm

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---Midnight Sonata -- Artistic process and anti-process---
An artist statement

An impulse. Surging through my being like some addictive substance from within the farthest reaches of my mind. Unavoidable and stubborn in its progression, it overwhelms and never fails to propel me towards the fresh opportunity ready and waiting at the easel...

Middle of the night, the world around me at quiet slumber, 75 watt overhead bulb illuminates the studio and glares in blood shot eyes. Maybe mix just a bit more cerulean in. No, prussian and just a dab of white....

Addiction? Obsession....

The process is conscious yet subconscious -- an image is rarely preconceived, but rather it materializes through each oil laden swipe of the knife. It's rather chaotic in its conception in that traditional sketches and research are not only abandoned but ignored entirely. Spontaneity dominates the so-called creative "process", yet the formula remains constant -- atleast as constant as a spontaneous creative "process" will allow....

Ground and foreground interact with the spark and exhaustive release of a night spent. Melting together and separating at the shift of a hue, only to melt back into one another moments later. Pigments are chosen as a reflection of emotion as the contemplation evolves into being. Continued from corner to edge to corner and between, the white of the once fresh opportunity is devoured piece by piece, moment by moment. Window into a new dimension unveiled upon completion, its inhabitants emerging only after the scene has been set.

They journey through the contemplation, melting and resurfacing like the atmosphere in which they reside. Stepping further into the canvas, they entice their audience to do the same. Walk the path and consider the possibilities of the unknown. Consider the notions set forth by their seemingly blind journey toward an end undepicted. Consider something more....

Methodical yet frenzied, the creation comes to fruition in one continuous sitting, no matter how long that may take. Just as a thought lingers in the recesses of the mind until acknowledged or confronted, such is the character of the muse within. That impulse that craves satiation. So it shall be satiated...until tomorrow.

Palette knife comes to rest, mind slows to but a comfortable crawl. Eyes gaze upon the piece of my soul plucked from my subconscious like a Polaroid into my imagination. The silence of the early morning reminds me of my exhaustion. 75 watt bulb a mere memory. Sleep may now embrace me....

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Thank you so much for your interest in my work! Please feel free to contact me - sagittariusgallery@gmail.com.

-- Aja