Exhibit: Organic Abstractions

In a new exhibition this fall and on view to the public free-
of-charge from September 6 through October 22, 2010, curators Beth Giacummo and John Cino have reached out to Long Island artists for a new group show entitled "Organic Abstractions."

In describing the exhibition, the curators write: "Organic Abstractions is meant to evoke the processes of life and/or living forms without explicit representation. The exhibit will show a
variety of manifestations through mixed media, wood sculpture, composition and ceramics."

The wood sculptures by John Cino display the collaboration between artist and material. "Each piece of wood is a unique record of life, documented in the pattern of its grain and rings and I draw on that in my sculptures," said Cino.

Debra Rodman-Peck invites the viewer to join in her exploration of movement through manipulation of form and color, and brings her background as a dancer to her compositions. In her words: "Art is a route to connect with the imaginary through the tangible."

In her mixed media work using collage, ink, watercolor, and more, Kat Cappillino brings to bear her career as a scientist in biology and ecology, creating imagery of micro cosmos and organisms transformed into subtle arrangements of abstract form.

Deborah Zlotsky works with powdered graphite, eliciting effects on sheets of Mylar with techniques organic to the substance – spreading, blowing, painting, erasing, wiping, and smudging. According to the artist the outcomes may be "grotesque and delicately beautiful: invariably, like life."

The ceramics of Bill Shillialies absorb natural influences in their combination of texture and color. "I find physical impulses are represented in both the process of creating the work and in the finished piece," said Shillialies.

Beth Giacummo, adjunct instructor at Briarcliffe College, explores issues of morality, religion and politics in her art. She works in a variety of mediums including glass, but for this exhibition
creates visual stories to explore spiritual questions raised by the use of technology in unborn embryos for the purposes of gender selection.