Image: Bruno Nadalin, Flute Players
Luster of Light
Curated by Jason Clay Lewis
Artists: Sato Yamamoto, Kirsten Flaherty, Bruno Nadalin, and Anita Rundles
Opening: Saturday, June 3rd, 2-4pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, June 10th, 2-3pm
Exhibition: June 3 - 30, 2023
Hudson Park Library
Bruno Nadalin
While I have long been a printmaker, my artwork since 2018 has focused almost entirely on etching and intaglio. I have been ceaselessly experimenting with the medium, trying out new techniques and materials, learning from and incorporating unexpected results, and allowing the particular characteristics of the medium to guide my ideas and composing process more and more. The three works included in this show are representative of my experimental approach and trace the tension between a straightforward rendering and a less restrained approach, two tendencies between which I alternate. These tensions find some unity through the subject matter and the character of the ink.
"The Church is the Heart of the Town" is an etching produced on a salvaged zinc plate which bore traces of a previous artist's marks. These were burnished out, though the traces still remain, and the main image rendered using litho crayon and other techniques. "Flute Players" similarly utilizes a less conventional matrix: a steel plate purchased at Home Depot. Executed during COVID lockdown when access to printmaking shops was limited, the image was etched with other household items. "Portrait" is a more conventional soft ground etching and aquatint on zinc.
Bruno Nadalin is an artist and educator based in Jersey City. He teaches printmaking and other arts in the NYC Metro area, and is the director of JC Print Room, a community printmaking shop in Jersey City.
Bruno is also a member of MGC's staff.
Sato Yamamoto
Sato is a Japanese bilingual artist inspired by culture and diversity. Born in Meguro, Tokyo – currently living in Brooklyn, New York. Her unique style of art includes advanced ambidextrous and Ukiyo-e printmaking skills that she uses in her artistic practice. Growing up in Japan, Sato used various techniques to create dynamic designs and expressive scenic views of the world around her. Her Origami art includes English translations of the Japanese diary “Ogura Hyakuninisshue” a historical Haiku book written by Japanese emperors, family, and their friends. Through their letter, Sato presents her experience and feelings in the big crowd of the city and how New York changed her perspective of her artistry.
Sato is also an instructor at MGC.
Kirsten Flaherty
Kirsten Flaherty resides in New York while working as an artist and printmaker, with a focus in mezzotint. The technique of mezzotint first grew as the ideal media to reproduce paintings and portraiture in 17th century England because of its ability to yield a rich variety of tones and subtle gradations. Using this classical history of the medium, Flaherty depicts pit bulls through mezzotint portraiture, with the intention of inspiring a more positive view of a nationally misunderstood animal.
Today, the American Pit Bull Terrier is a widely persecuted dog breed and these animals are often punished because of their negative reputation. In each mezzotint portrait, Flaherty strives to illustrate the personalities of these individual canines while also conveying the soft emotions of the animal through delicate tones and detail. The images inform viewers of the kind nature of these gentle hounds, and further encourage reform of the animal's cultural stigma.
A portion of each mezzotint sale is donated directly to a non-profit animal shelter. Kirsten Flaherty has eight years of experience working in print-related organizations including the IFPDA, International Print Center New York, Manhattan Graphics Center, and Dieu Donné Papermill. She has taught numerous mezzotint demonstrations across the United States and is on the Board of Directors of the New York Society of Etchers.
Kirsten is also an MGC board member.
Anita Rundles
Anita Rundles is a Brooklyn based illustrator and fine artist originally from New England. She works primarily in ink and watercolor often with strong linework. Her work focuses on the observation of real people, places, and things, and the place where that observation intersects with the style and flair of fashion illustration and is further informed by fine art. Some of her clients include Netflix, Bloomberg, and Abrams Books. She teaches drawing and illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
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