"Beyond the Book" Group Art Exhibition at Silvermine

"Beyond the Book" Group Art Exhibition at Silvermine Arts Center

What began as a gathering of individual artists, who assembled for a journaling and bookmaking class led by artist Fairfield artist Susan Newbold, evolved into an enriched experience of self-exploration, newly-formed friendships, and synergistic creative expression for seven area artists, whose group show, “Beyond the Book” opens with an Opening reception at the Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan on Sunday, September 15, 2013 from 2pm to 4pm. 

The exhibition includes a variety of works spawned from the group’s shared experiences and collaborative art and will include: handmade books, personal journals, paintings, sculpture, works on paper, and furniture. The “Beyond the Book” show runs from September 15, 2013 through October 26, 2013 at the Silvermine Gallery, 1037 Silvermine Road, New Canaan, Connecticut and includes works by Fairfield artists Elisa Khachian and Susan Newbold.

The seven artists: Kerry Brock, Shiela Hale, Barbara Harder, Stephanie Joyce, Elisa Khachian, Claudia Mengel and Susan Newbold employed the concepts, craft, and content of personal journals and crafted books as a springboard to create artworks that go “Beyond the Book”.  “Six of us are here because of the seventh, Susan Newbold who inspired the journey through her expansive “Illuminated Journal” workshops”, explained artist Kerry Brock.  Working individually and in collaborative conversations, employing a wide range of mediums, the artists set out to explore and elaborate diverse pathways to and from the book.  Working along side one another at Susan Newbold’s studio in Maine, the group discovered that their efforts were organic and informed by their personalities, relationships, and personal bonds.  The artists began by painting on 10”x10’ strips of watercolor paper in their preferred, personal styles, then swapped paintings.  The artist that began the painting finished the piece.  Working in this collaborative way helped each artist move out of her personal comfort zone. The resulting outcome: a sum of creative expression greater than its parts.

Susan Newbold, the award-winning, mixed-media artist and group instructor, studied extensively throughout the United States and abroad.  Her work is housed in private collections, as well as in major institutions.  She has taught a variety of workshops and courses at schools, art centers, and in her private studio on topics that include: printmaking, bookmaking, and drawing. “Keeping an illuminated journal has been part of my artistic practice for the past fifteen years,” explains Newbold. “Discoveries made while working in these journals have opened up an entirely new process to me (and my students), including ways of approaching line, composition, color, and content.  I’ve distilled these experiences into enlarged giclee prints and layered them with multi-media for a fresh dimension.  This expression helps me to translate a complex world beyond the book.”

Seasoned, award-winning artist Elisa Khachian is new to collaborative work and found the “Beyond the Book” experience interesting, valued the new friendships, and found new ways of seeing things. Khachian said of her bookmaking, “I work from real life, which I so enjoyed doing for the work in my books. As I become involved physically, emotionally and intellectually with the subject, the piece becomes an extension or reflection of me, and close to my heart.”

The seven artists would all agree that their experiences preparing for “Beyond the Book” were not only about art, but also about trust in the creative process, connectedness, and personal growth and exploration. 

For more information about the “Beyond the Book” exhibit, visit the Silvermine Art Center website at www.silvermineart.org, or call 203-966-9700.  The show opens with a reception open to the public on Sunday, September 15, 2013 from 2pm to 4pm.  Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday: 12pm-5pm, Sunday: 1pm-5pm.