Women in Abstract

Show Dates: April 21 – June 3, 2023

Small Group Show
Featuring the work of
Oluwaseyi (Shayee) Awoyomi, Rosaria Bazan-Pepe, & Debra Fink

Oluwaseyi (Shayee) Awoyomi

Artist Statement:

Art is a language with many dialects. My Art through my artworks represents the vision as seen and its message, taking you on a mental odyssey to experience the various dialects through the art mediums with which I communicate, guiding you and giving you an insight into how I approach
my subject matter.

My abstract, figurative style portrays the variables in life’s connections and relationships. I depict those with wiggly curved lines of different weights that illustrate the impact of each contact or interaction, and adorned with the unspoken indigenous patterns of the Yoruba adire designs, bringing out the delicate details and intricacies of each connection, using pen and ink.

I grew up surrounded by Art in its various forms. I was born and raised in galleries, in an art village within a bigger artist village. What a privilege!

I’m truly blessed to have been born to the family of Prince Twins Atoyeje Taiwo Olaniyi (Twins 77) of blessed memory and Chief Dr. Mrs. Oyenike Okundaye – founder and owner of Nike Art Gallery in Nigeria, with locations in Lagos, Abuja, Osogbo and Ogidi. I am a thorough mix of my parents, as they had intentionally and inadvertently passed a lot of their artistic knowledge and skills to me. People often ask, can we see more of your father’s or mother’s style in your Art? My works blend both types, with some figures drawn in my works looking like the mythical figures in my father’s works, while the intricate details of the ancient adire patterns are more from my mother’s pedagogy.

With no formal art training, I have grown to be recognized as a proud offspring, a descendant of the famed Osogbo artists, and immersed in their various art styles. Therefore, my Art is innate, its uniqueness is unrivaled, and its beauty is to be appreciated.

As the saying goes, much is required to whom much is given. And so is my call to action, the forbearing call for the continuous growth and
advancement of the Art of my legacy. I aim to have Art take my audience along with me as I sojourn through life – what I know, what I have seen, and how they are seen.

My Art is bigger than me; I am merely its messenger.

Rosaria Bazan-Pepe

Artist Statement:

Creating abstract art is to be spontaneous and intuitive. It’s the process that takes hold and becomes an energy that flows and an idea is born. Creating abstract art is to be in a constant mode of experimentation and to feel energized by what I am creating. A majority of my works are very colorful and bold, a mixed media of acrylic, ink, collage and/or digitally composed. The work I create is an interweaving of lines, shapes, and color. The works are created on paper, canvas or sometimes scanned and reconstructed digitally and printed onto canvas or other surfaces.

 

 

Debra Fink

Artist Statement:

I’m a self-described New York broad who, in 1996,  moved to rural Ohio not realizing I’d be starring in a never ending episode of “Green Acres.” Unable to adjust but needing to cope, I self-medicated with paper and book arts, quilting, watercolors, and jewelry.

I had long collected lost items and imagined their stories. What did this key open? Was this charm a gift? These totems and whatnots, were worked into my jewelry before translating into the marks often made in at least one of the layers in my paintings. 

In 2018, after decades partnering with various organizations in Ohio and New York to develop creative expression programs in medical, therapeutic, and educational settings, I decided to focus on my own work exploring acrylics under the tutelage of Jane Davies.

I returned home to LI in February 2022 and began painting my way through another set of life’s transitions.

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