About Andrea Epstein
Andrea Epstein has been always driven to develop images focused more on the process itself and allowing images to emerge without a preconceived notion of the outcome. As she says herself she is seeking a journey into uncharted territory with her creations which results in rich textures and complex arrangement of shapes, forms, and colors. With her paintings, collages and prints Andrea is trying to show what is hidden beneath the surface, making the layers to overlap and expose the image. She is working in various techniques: oil-based printing inks, acrylics and mixed media on paper, utilizing a variety of printmaking techniques, both planographic and relief. She holds a B.F.A. from The Rhode Island School of Design and an M.F.A. from The Yale School of Art.
New Brunswick Art Salon 2021 – Oil and Mixed Media: “Bonds Beyond Time”
Artist Personal Website: andreaepstein.com
Email: andreajepstein@gmail.com
Artist Statement
I have always been driven to develop images focused more on the process itself and allowing images to emerge without a preconceived notion of the outcome. For me this process is one of simultaneous observation and participation, adding and subtracting, layering and peeling away, approaching and retreating. I am seeking a journey into uncharted territory. This journey allows for a certain amount of texture and mark making to happen on the surface of the picture plane, evolving into a complex arrangement of shapes, forms, textures and colors through a layering process. Often, before I start a monoprint or a painting, it feels as though the image, although unknown to me at the outset, is somehow already there. Not unlike an archeological dig, my job is to show up to excavate the image or composition and reveal what is lurking beneath the surface. I am unmasking my personal journey and vision as I explore my own intuitive process. I layer transparent and opaque forms, shapes and calligraphic marks that go in and out of focus, creating an ambiguous space. My aim is to create an image that reveals itself slowly over time as opposed to being accessible all at once.
Collage has been an important part of my process for a long time now. Sometimes there are actual collaged elements in my paintings and prints but mostly it is a collage aesthetic that I choose to employ I work with oil based printing inks, acrylics and mixed media on paper, utilizing a variety of printmaking techniques, both planographic and relief. I use printmaking in a very intuitive spontaneous way, experimenting with traditional methods, such as collagraphs, monotypes, linoleum carvings and a combination of these processes which end up as monoprints. Often I will hand color the prints and they evolve into mixed media paintings and/or prints.
There isn’t much that is more pleasing to me than working in my studio, immersing myself in the work. Thrown into a creative trance, the world’s chaos falling away, I feel as though I’ve stepped outside of time. The joy of that process abounds and my work takes directions I can’t anticipate. What I truly love about the various printing methods I employ, is the element of surprise. I can achieve a variety of textures and colors in my print practice that I could not in painting alone, which is why I combine the painting and printing media. I also really enjoy doing multiples because I can create one image and take it through many permutations while still retaining a record of the process.
My training incudes a B.F.A. from The Rhode Island School of Design and an M.F.A. from The Yale School of Art.
Exhibitions
2020 Time is of the Essence, Virtual Exhibit curated by Paul Pinkman, Watchung Art Center, Watchung, New Jersey
2020 WALK-BYE, Outdoor Art Exhibit, Jersey City, New Jersey
2019 Group of Ten Exhibit, South Avenue Arts, Garwood, New Jersey
2019 MGNE Members Show, Chesyer Gallery of Art, New England College, Henniker, New Hampshire, Group Show
2019 In the Pause, The Contemporary Art Group, The Gallery Space, Rahway, New Jersey, Group Show
2019 Divergent Evolution, Studio Montclair Gallery, Group Show, Montclair, NJ
2019 Studio Montclair Keller Williams Gallery, Group Exhibit Montclair, N.J.
2019 For the Love Of It All, ProArts Juried Show, Nimbus Studios, Jersey City, N.J. Group Show
2019 Faculty Show, Art School at Old Church, Demarest, N.J., Group Show
2018 ProArts JCAST, Grace Church, Jersey City, NJ, Group Show
2018 Windows Installation of Monoprints, Studio Montclair, Montclair, New Jersey
2018 UnMask, Mondo Contemporary, Summit, NJ, Group Exhibit
2018 ProArts Salons, Watchung Art Center, Watchung, NJ, Group Show
2018 Seen/Unseen, The Perception of Space, The Gallery space, Rahway, NJ, Group Show
2018 Gaelen Juried Art Show, Gaelen Gallery West, Whippany, NJ
2018 By Chance, Studio Montclair Invitational Group Exhibit, Montclair, NJ
2018 Momentum, ProArts Invitational Group Exhibit, Nimbus Dance Works, Jersey City, NJ
2018 Notes on Color, Gaelen Gallery East, Two Person Show, JCC Metrowest, West Orange, NJ
2017 Color as Noun, Pronoun and Verb, 4 Person Show, Fine Arts Gallery, Mac Mahon Center, St. Peter’s University, Jersey City, NJ
2017 ProArts, JCAST, What’s Next, Group Show, Jersey City, NJ
2017 Transformations gallery, Group Show, Metuchen, NJ
2017 The Gaelen Gallery East, Group Show, West Orange, NJ
2017 The Gaelen Juried Art Show, Gaelen Galleries West, Whippany, NJ
2017 Cathedral Arts Festival, Grace Church Van Vorst, Jersey City, NJ
2017 Rotunda Gallery, City Hall, Jersey City, Group Show, Womens History Month
2017 Atrium Gallery, Winter Invitational Exhibit, Morristown, NJ
2016 JCAST, City Life Gallery, ProArts Group Show, Jersey City, NJ
2016 JCAST, Jersey City Art and Studio Tour, ProArts Group Show, Flagship Space
2015 Solo Exhibition of Monoprints, Edward Williams Gallery Fairleigh Dickenson University, Hackensack, New Jersey
2015 The Gaelen Juried Art Show, Gaelen Galleries West, Honorable Mention JCC Metrowest, Whippany, New Jersey
2014 Bold Impressions, Solo Exhibition of Paintings and Monoprints, Lundt Glover Gallery, Chatham, New Jersey
2013 The Gaelen Juried Art Show, Gaelen Galleries West, JCC Metrowest, Whippany, NJ
2013 Group Exhibition, Chatham Township Gallery, Chatham, NJ
2013 Solo Exhibition, The Pearl Street Gallery, Elizabeth, New Jersey
2011 Paper Work, Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, New Jersey, Group Show
2010 National Juried Exhibition of Printmaking, Monotype Guild of New England Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA, Juror, Joanne Moser
2009 Abstraction, A Women’s View, The Gaelen Galleries West, West Orange, NJ, Group show
2009 Pressing Matters, Visual Arts Center of NJ, Summit, NJ, Group Show
2008 Gaelen Juried Art Show, The Gaelen Galleries West, West Orange, New Jersey
2007 Hudson D. Walker Gallery, FAWC, Group Show, Provincetown, MA
2005 South Orange & Maplewood Studio Tour, The Baird Center South Orange, New Jersey
2004 South Orange & Maplewood Studio Tour, Maplewood, N.J.
2003 Ashawagh Hall, Solo Exhibition, East Hampton, New York
2002 Morning Calm Gallery, Solo Exhibition of Prints, New York, N.Y.
2000 The Gallery of South Orange, Solo Exhibition, South Orange, N.J.
1998 Essex Exposed, a juried exhibition of Essex County, New Jersey The Gallery of South Orange
1996 Artists as Educators, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
1995 Anne Harpur Gallery, East Hampton, New York
1994 Anne Harpur Gallery, East Hampton, New York
1994 The Morning Calm Gallery, New York, NY
1993 The Broadway Mall Gallery, New York, NY
1992 The Broadway Mall Gallery, New York, NY
1990 Twining Gallery, New York, NY
1989 Long Island Focus on Art, SUNY Old Westbury, NY
1988 Vital Gestures, East Hampton Center for Contemporary Art Group Show, East Hampton, NY
1987 East Hampton Center for Contemporary Art EHCCA, An Invitational Benefit Exhibition, Group Sho
Awards
2017 Best in Mixed Media, Gaelen Juried Art Show, Gaelen Gallery West, Whippany, NJ
1995 Awarded a summer grant for the study of serigraphy by The Hewitt School Parent Association
1980-81 Awarded a Visual Artist’s Fellowship by the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA.
1981-83 Yale Tuition Scholarship
1979 Royal Society Silver Medal Award, in recognition of Professional competence in the arts, Rhode Island School of Design
1978 Scholarship Award, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture