The work of seven artists comes together at the Peninsula Gallery to showcase abstract work utilizing paper, mixed media, and fabric collage. After having met while participating in workshops at the Crow Timber Frame Barn in Ohio, these abstract artists discovered that they share commonalities among their work, making them ideal companions for a group exhibition. “Abstract Constructions,” which runs from May 30 to June 21, features pieces by Peggy Black, Elizabeth Brandt, Julia Graziano, David Hornung, Sarah Pavlik, Paul Rosenblatt, and Karen Schulz.​

 

    All of the artists in “Abstract Constructions” are driven by curiosity, creating work through a process-based practice where a piece begins with an unknown outcome.  Paying attention to formal design elements, but working intuitively without a plan, their hope is to be surprised by the creative process. They have all exhibited both nationally and internationally, with work in private and public collections. Numerous accomplishments, including solo shows, Quilt National prize-winning pieces, and being part of traveling international exhibitions, are part of their list of accolades. 

 

    Fiber artist Peggy Black returns to the Peninsula Gallery with work using a variety of mediums and techniques. Peggy describes her practice of surrounding herself with cut-out, torn, and found papers, with snippets and remnants of fabric. She arranges and rearranges the little parts until they become stories in her imagination.

 

    Elizabeth Brandt, of Michigan, is a former graphic designer who worked in advertising and illustration until she began working as a full-time artist in 2010. Elizabeth creates abstract sewn and collaged work using stitching as an expressive element, one that doesn’t just hold the elements together but adds texture, color and dimension, resulting in sculptural pieces. Elizabeth was recently featured in the book Cloth: 100 Artists by Lena Corwin.

 

    Julia Graziano of Upstate NY and Cape Cod is a contemporary artist who brings the excitement of exploring shape, design, color, and texture to her collage work. As a fiber artist, Julia uses collage to inspire her large art quilts. She plays with fragments of cloth and found and hand-painted paper. While Julia is working, a conversation begins to take place between the line and shape, to which she responds. 

 

    David Hornung is a New York-based mixed media artist. He has been teaching for over 50 years and was a former professor at several universities, including the Rhode Island School of Design. For the past 13 years, David has been teaching classes in color, collage, painting, and design at workshop venues in the US and abroad. He is the author of Color: A Workshop for Artists and Designers, a practical color theory textbook that is used in art schools around the world.

 

    Known for her large art quilts, Lewes artist Sarah Pavlik is a regular exhibitor at Peninsula Gallery. In “Abstract Constructions,” Sarah moves away from the fiber pieces the locals know her for. In an effort to constantly evolve her practice, her new work is fabric and paper collages. Her artistic process typically involves using a motif or configuration as inspiration in creating a piece. Sarah explores the possibilities, often improvising to create new configurations. Inspired by abstract composition, Sarah’s goal is to create a composition that evokes movement, tension, and the viewer’s desire to continue to look at the work. 

 

    Interested in the relationship between art and architecture, Paul Rosenblatt is an artist and architect based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Yale University and a former professor of architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, Paul founded the architectural practice Springboard Design, which focuses on helping organizations that help others. Having little time for art with his work, Paul found his way back into the art world during COVID when he was able to double down on creative endeavors.  Paul’s background and practice in architecture give him a unique perspective on the relationship between paintings and space. His current work explores the theme of inside/outside, comfort vs. claustrophobia, urban rooms and landscapes, seeking to represent their interrelationships.

 

    Karen Schulz’s works have been described as sophisticated, elegant, and lively, with notable attention to detail and craftsmanship. Her work references a careful consideration of line, shape, color, and texture, resulting in images that seem to invite the viewer to enter and linger. A retired psychotherapist, Karen has devoted herself to a full-time art practice since 2012, studying with many notable artists in the field of contemporary quilt making as well as mixed media work.  Each medium influences the other as she works back and forth between her sewing machine and mixed media, sometimes merging the two worlds.