On May 14th Rockland Center for the Arts opens two exhibits centering on light, color and potential in all things. The exhibits are meant to be a relief on the senses and a feeling of joy, from the past year of isolation, and weary worry. Much like these paintings, the parts or fragments of each of us make a beautiful whole when combined with varying and different parts of other cultures or races. And as we see the light of gold in each other’s hearts we bring about a more equitable and beautiful humanity for all. It’s hoped that these exhibits bring a moment of pause and welcome to the new dawn that is slowly ushering in some normalcy.

In this past year of uncertain times, Barbara Smith Gioia’s work is a breath of fresh air and possibilities. In Fragments of Alliance, Gioia creates a world that is open to interpretation and invites one into an abstract space that communicates potential and possibility, humanity and joy.

Drawing the essential line and following it’s energy, line begets line and what happens next is a tumbling forward of composing from the emotional center in a focused, “mediation in motion” kind of way.

Gioia’s work is influenced by textiles and quilts, her interest in color, pattern, printmaking and collage. She uses the unconventional technique of “silkscreen unhinged” as an improvisational approach to composing and finds it very useful for abstract compositions that emphasize mark making. (Silkscreen unhinged literally means the screen is not hinged to the table and there is no registration during printing.) Each screen is a reproduction of her own marks and drawings to be printed in fragments or to be reconfigured in combination with others. This approach encourages spontaneity and experimentation while providing new pathways. As an artist who works abstractly and improvises her way through a painting, this technique was a welcome addition to her practice.

Silkscreen unhinged dovetailed with Gioia’s interest in collaging. Mining printed papers, she discovered that fragments were powerful when liberated from the whole and found new life in her paintings along side other fragments from completely different prints. As such, the combination of printing, painting, and collage came to be the method of Gioia’s work for over 10 years and continues to play an important role in her work. The physical rhythm of printing begins the process of translating marks, paint, and color into rhythmic form…a kind of dance that combines a set of rules with plenty of freedom. Whatever the method, the goal is the same: To create a world that is open to interpretation and invites one into an abstract space that communicates potential and possibility, humanity and joy.

Barbara Smith Gioia is an artist living in Cornwall, NY. She has exhibited extensively including Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI; Buster Levi Gallery, Cold Spring, NY; University of Wisconsin – Parkside, WI; and Montclair University, Montclair, NJ among others.

The exhibit is open, free to the public, Monday through Saturday 11am – 4pm. Masks are still required in the exhibit spaces and building for the safety of everyone.

Rockland Center for the Arts is the oldest and largest arts organization in Rockland County, presenting outstanding programming in the arts for over 70 years. RoCA is located at 27 S Greenbush Rd., West Nyack, NY 10994, Website: www.rocklandartcenter.org. Phone: 845-358-0877, Fax: 845-358-0971.