Alfa Art Gallery is excited to announce the 2023 NBAS Oil, Sculpture and Mixed Media Exhibition titled “Close to Home”.
Through our Salon, we wish to have our artists tell you their story by way of their artworks. Alfa Art Gallery is thrilled to have the opportunity to be a vessel for artists with rich histories and varying experiences to tell their personal journey through art. Each of our artists will come together at our Salon to blur the line between the art and the artist.
This virtual salon exhibits the art of both local and international artists. We hope to explore variety in these mediums through the idiosyncratic theming and style of our artists.
Alfa Art Gallery is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Alfa Art Gallery
Time: Sep 12, 2023 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86051124346?pwd=UDdLbnN5UCthL2xQV3BiNW5DUWx6QT09
Meeting ID: 860 5112 4346
Passcode: 562511
Sponsors:
Virtual Gallery: Artsteps
Artsteps instructions:
- Click on the images (artwork and graphics) to bring up an information text box (the “wall label”).
- Click different areas of the floor to “walk” around. Footprints will appear on the ground to show where you will move to.
- Click, hold, and drag your mouse to rotate or “turn your head”.
- Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move forward, backwards, and side to side.
Featured Artists:
Maureen Bennett is an artist utilizing sketching, painting, and mixed media based in northern New Jersey focusing on nature surrounding her home, showcasing it in a mandala shape to symbolize life’s eternal journey. Maureen has been included in various global connecting art projects as well as exhibiting her works throughout the east coast.
Rodrigo Brasil is an oil painter who takes inspiration from the ‘simple things’ in life. He is based in Brazil.
Rodrigo was an arts teacher from 2009-2011, then, in 2016, he founded his own school, Atelie 50, where he teaches arts and philosophy.
As a recent graduate from their masters degree of Urban Planning from USC in 2021, Abigail Sobotka/Briner has taken what they have learned and utilized it to be an active member of their community. Her art style focuses on colors, patterns and textures to convey various symbols. She draws upon the urban environment of various cities for her artworks.
The Northern Georgia-based oil painter Michael Hanna finds his art in the silent, meditative moments of life. His painting style allows for the viewer to see movement in a scene that is otherwise still.
He has exhibited throughout Northeastern US, including a solo exhibition in Chelsea at the Wix Gallery and an exhibit at Hogarth Worldwide in midtown Manhattan.
Carol Heft is a teacher and current writer for High Art Fridays. She considers time fluid, and applies this to her works; Carol will, at times, leave an art piece and finish it later after the passing of time. Carol has exhibited various times at the Blue Mountain Gallery in NYC, and taught many classes at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA.
After growing up in the Konkan region of India, Mayur Kadu‘s family relocated to New Jersey where his artist career took flight. He thinks fondly on his birthplace and the beauty that it held, and with this appreciation of nature he is able to translate a scene into paint. Mayur believes that nature reflects life, as his life philosophy is centered around nature. He has exhibited many times in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Teriz Michael began working with abstraction in her works once she went through her life of being a mother and an educator. She is inspired by childhood, specifically, her own children, to capture an innocent, free, lively look in her work. Teriz graduated with a BFA in Fine Arts in 2003, and was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt until the second grade.
Sylvia Padilla reflects on the history of Central and South America as well as her own culture through the integration of various imagery, textile patterns, Gods, and Idols from Aztec and Maya culture into her paintings. She was inspired to identify her sense of self throughout the 2020 pandemic, and this discovery shows itself in her pieces. She is based in Elizabeth, New Jersey and holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Rutgers University.
The Indian-born American self-taught artist Richa Rashmi has centered herself in creation all her life. She began working as a full-time artist in 2020. Richa uses acrylic and watercolor to create various styles: abstract, modern, contemporary and folk-art. Her connection to art is raw and spiritual. She has exhibited various times throughout 2023 in NYC and NJ.
Doug Rizio‘s digital artworks draw together the mythical and virtual world in a vibrant, never-before-seen way. An art curator and web designer himself, Doug has experience with both traditional art and the niche art style of glitch art.
Joel Rudin is an abstract artist who takes inspiration from the real world to create his own imaginary mystical landscapes. Joel is inspired by the unknown of what lay above the atmosphere, and through his artwork he explores what may be out there in the cosmos. His background in comic art inspires him to incorporate the look of magazine photo or newspaper into his work.
Edward Ruggieri is an oil painter based in New Jersey who has an affinity for landscape painting. Edward plays with memories, for example, he enjoys taking a popular scenic landscape from his community and interpolating it into his artworks; not a direct copy, but rather, an inspiration. He has exhibited with Alfa in 2018. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Arts in Teacher, and a Doctorate in Education.
Clifford Thompson describes his work as autobiographical; he draws upon his own niche interests and obsessions, ranging from literature and music to hats, whiskey, and his own childhood. Clifford reflects his life as a black man through his outlets of nonfiction writing and art creating. He is a frequent exhibitor at the Blue Mountain Gallery in New York, New York, as well as a long time published author.
The painter-turned-sculptor Jennifer Toth draws influence from her mother, who taught her to appreciate her own experience and have a strong imagination, as well as her sons innocent love of art, unhindered by any societal expectation. One inspiration of Jenny’s sculptures was a parrot named El Chapo in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She created a paper mache copy of him, and has since worked on a paper mache zoo. Jenny graduated from Yale School of Art in 1998, and currently has a solo show at Blue Mountain Gallery, NY.
As an international artist, living and traveling in Africa, England, France and the US, Ann Vollum focuses on organic life, sustainably creating naturalistic sculptures out of recycled and repurposed cloth. She focuses not only on visible life, but also molecular structure. She utilized various dyed and colored fabrics for her pieces. Ann has an extensive exhibitive history, in New Jersey and New York, and holds a BA in Architectural Studies from Newcastle University.
