Devastating Loves & Transcendent Hatreds

Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art presents

November 1-30, 2023

Abrams Claghorn Gallery Albany, California

Elizabeth Addison, Exhibition Director Robert Abrams and Leah Andrews, Jurors

Catalog Design: Elizabeth Addison Editorial Team: Laura Abrams and Sally Allen Production Assistance: Mary K. Shisler Copyright 2023 by Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art. The artists retain sole copyright to the contents of this catalog.

No part of it may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without prior permission in writing.

Table of Contents

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About NCWCA

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About Abrams Claghorn Gallery

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Exhibition Statement

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Exhibition Director’s Statement

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Jurors’ Statements

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Exhibition Team

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Exhibition Artists

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Exhibition Artwork & Artist Statements

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Artist Directory

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About NCWCA Founded in 1972, Women’s Caucus for Art is an affiliate society of the College Art Association and founding partner of the Feminist Art Project. The Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art (NCWCA) is one of its earliest chapters, formed in the same year as National WCA. It is one of three California chapters and serves members in San Francisco, East Bay, South Bay, Marin and all parts of Northern California. Our mission is to create community through art, education and social activism.

We are committed to: • Recognizing the contributions of women in the arts • Providing women with leadership opportunities and professional development • Expanding networking and exhibition opportunities for women • Supporting local,national and global art activism • Advocating for equity in the arts for all NCWCA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Visit www.ncwca.org, @ncwca

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About Abrams Claghorn Gallery Abrams Claghorn Gallery believes that everyone has a unique story to tell through creative expression. We present over 70 local makers in our diverse collection of fine art and home goods. We also feature local and emerging artists, rotating monthly in our gallery. We showcase works that allow artists to focus on concept and masterful craftsmanship.

Sustainable, Ethically Sourced, Fairly Priced There are a several positive results from choosing only local artists as vendors. Most makers in the SF Bay Area are women, and if we choose our vendors based on quality alone, then it naturally follows that we will have a very representative sampling of the local community, meaning most items in the shop are made by women. And, that also means that with many other factors (culture, ethnicity, age, etc) we have an accurate sampling of the artist community at large.

It is important to us that there are no ethical concerns for labor sourcing and few sustainability issues. We know personally 99% of the makers, and what their inventory is made with. None of the items we sell are made in factories. Almost all of the inventory is hand delivered, which means the vendor does not leave packing materials here, and any used by the vendor can be re-used for later transportation and delivery.

Last, and very important, it is crucial to us that the vendors get paid a fair amount for the items we sell. That means we are not always as inexpensive as other places.

We thank you for your support of local artists and craftspeople, and we hope to see you soon!

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Exhibition Statement Love and hatred can be considered opposing sides of the same coin. They overlap and influence each other in life and both love and hatred activate the same region in our brains. They lead to heightened states of passion, obsession, and often result in similar behaviors. On either side of the coin, individuals might commit heroic, bold, or simply evil acts. At their extremes, love and hatred can both place us in an obsessive state where we give the object of our affection or hatred an excess of attention. When we’re in love with someone, for instance, we want to know everything about them and find reasons to love them even more. For those we despise, we want to discover everything about them to support our hatred.

There’s a saying, “Don’t hate someone too much, it may bloom into love.” It’s well known in psychology that a fine line exists between love and hatred. These are the strongest and most passionate emotions that we hold for one another, often resulting in devastation or transcendence.

Devastating Loves & Transcendent Hatreds features artwork created by women (including those who identify as female and non-binary) in a variety of media and materials that tell stories of these extreme emotional states — of passion and obsession, devastation and transcendence.

Exhibition Director’s Statement About a year ago, my husband and I were driving home from an extended road trip when we learned about a dear friend’s unexpected death. We were in shock and silence. It was a particularly lonely and monotonous stretch of highway. Eventually, words of confusion, sadness, and shock punctured our silence. We spoke of love, mortality denial, the meaning of time, and our most intense emotional experiences with friends, family, lovers.

After a reverential quiet time in remembrance, we opted for an audiobook to keep us awake and functional.

Throughout our Southwest Parks tour, I had been listening to The Source of Self Regard, a stunning collection of Toni Morrison’s most important essays and speeches. Continuing where I had left off was serendipitous. The next essay was titled “The Future of Time: Literature and Diminished Expectations.”

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To weigh the future of future thoughts requires some powerfully visionary thinking about how the life of the mind can operate in a moral context… It will require thinking about the quality of human life, not just its length.1 Morrison’s imperative to consider the quality of our lives, not just its length, was riveting in this moment. Later in the essay, she referred to Salmon Rushdie’s novel, The Moor’s Last Sigh, to illustrate her point. … singing for daily life. Telling, writing, recording four generations of family and national history. A history of devastating loves, transcendent hatreds; of ambition without limit and sloth without redemption; loyalties beyond understanding and deceptions beyond imagination.1 This is the quote that hooked me. I nearly drove off the road. In honor of my friend and his surviving wife, a dear friend of 45 years, I was compelled to create something with this complex emotional concept in mind.

My creative community and the world at large continue to experience a world in existential flux. I pondered how this might affect our emotional, political and creative lives. What better way to find out than a call for art! Admittedly, Devastating Loves & Transcendent Hatreds is a difficult theme to wrap one’s head around. Many artists reached out to me letting me know they were challenged, but it took them to a new awareness or “place” in their artwork.

I am humbled by the vulnerability offered and the profound thematic interpretations and extend my gratitude to these courageous artists. Additionally, our exhibition jurors, Leah Andrews and Robert Abrams had a daunting task. The high quality of all of the submitted artwork presented difficult decisions and the investment of copious time, emotional energy, and personal vulnerability to create a cohesive collection.

I also deeply appreciate the contributions of our exhibition team members (p. 8) and the catalog’s editing and production trio: Laura Abrams, Sally Allen, and Mary Shisler. This sense of creative camaraderie is one of NCWCA’s extraordinary and most rewarding qualities. ~Elizabeth Addison, October 2023 1. Morrison, Toni. “The Future of Time: Literature and Diminished Expectations, The 25th Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, March 25, 1996.” The Source of Self Regard, 1st ed., Knopf, 2019.

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Jurors’ Statements Love. Hatred. Each in the extreme is an unquenchable state of mind. Fear, self doubt, or obsession can manipulate one’s very thought. These strong opposing emotions have driven the creative endeavors of innumerable artists. It is a great feat to channel these feelings into paper, canvas, or clay.

The works submitted to this show are in many ways acts of bravery. To revisit the emotions, to expose your heart, black with hate or bursting with love, to the world is difficult. And when done well, the work is emotional for the viewer to experience, too.

The art presented in Devastating Loves & Transcendent Hatreds evokes the emotions intended. The show features a wide range of expressive styles that all manage to convey love and hatred in all their heart wrenching beauty.

It was an honor to be asked to help select the art for this exhibit. I approached the selection process with the understanding of the difficulties of the topic. I looked for works that spoke to me viscerally, that might be at once direct in message and also ambiguous.

Thank you to every artist who applied, and it is a privilege to present Devastating Loves & Transcendent Hatreds at Abrams Claghorn Gallery. ~Robert Abrams, October, 2023 Robert Abrams is a lifelong resident of the East Bay, minus a few formidable years spent working in New York City. In 1993, while still in New York, Robert began his art practice in ceramics. He moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2000 and went on to earn Masters in Fine Art Sculpture in 2007 at Academy of Art University, San Francisco, having previously earned a Bachelor’s Degree at UC Berkeley. Robert is the owner of Abrams Claghorn Gallery and Shop. He has 15 years experience as a curator and has curated more than 80 shows In his almost nine years as curator at Abrams Claghorn. He is also the owner of MudWorks Pottery, in El Cerrito, and sits on the Solano Avenue Association board. Robert teaches at The Mill Valley Pottery Studio and at Laney College, where he also is the Director of the June Steingart Gallery.

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Jurors’ Statements Love and hatred can fuel every breath, narrate every passing thought, direct every subconscious dream. These emotions are so powerful and spiritual they are capable of transcending the emotional realm to affect the physical. Some sufferers of these intense states even experience extreme physical reactions, such as having their hearts suspended from beating. So all-encompassing, when these emotions somehow vanish they leave hollow shells in their wake. Because strong emotions are not measurable or quantifiable, they are closer to spiritual states of being. Through the vital medium of art, we are able to process, understand, and communicate these immeasurables, to express strong emotions that are so ubiquitous, yet so ineffable. By viewing the various interpretations of the theme, we will learn from each other and undoubtedly gain insight about ourselves, sensitized anew to those emotions that reach inside each one of us to tug on our heartstrings.

As I considered each artwork, I was sensitive to which works tugged strongest at my own heartstrings. I paid close attention to my emotions as I carefully contemplated each piece, scrupulously selecting those I felt best exemplified the theme. The process was difficult as I confronted some of the most powerful emotions we feel as humans, invoking devastating moments and unleashing transcendent feelings.

Every work of art submitted was an extension of the artist’s soul. I sincerely thank all the artists who submitted for their vulnerability and courage. Each piece was truly an honor to experience. ~ Leah Andrews, October 2023 Leah discovered her love for the arts and creativity at a very young age. In high school she served as a board member of the Art Club and helped organize several student exhibitions. She studied Fine Arts at Ohlone College, where she received a degree with highest honors. Sculpture was her favorite class and her pieces were selected and featured in the annual student art exhibition. She transferred to San Francisco State University, where she discovered her passion for art history, specializing in modern art and contemporary Asian art. She graduated from SFSU magna cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History. She is currently the curator of the City of Fremont’s historic Olive Hyde Art Gallery. In her free time, Leah enjoys visiting galleries, reading contemporary art magazines, and texture painting.

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Exhibition Team Devastating Loves & Transcendent Hatreds’ success is ultimately due to the skilled and enthusiastic support, of our volunteer exhibition team.

Elizabeth Addison - Exhibition Director, NCWCA Exhibitions Chair Robert Abrams - Exhibition Juror, Abrams Claghorn Gallery Owner Leah Andrews - Exhibition Juror, Olive Hyde Gallery Curator ~~~ Laura Abrams - Catalog Editor and Proofreader, Installation Robert Abrams - Curation, Installation Elizabeth Addison - Catalog Design/Production, Curation, Installation Sally Allen - Catalog Editor and Proofreader Niloufar Farzam - Volunteer at Large Vicki Gunter - Artwork Check-in, Installation Priscilla Otani - Online Gallery, Webmaster Chandrika Marla - Social Media Sawyer Rose - NCWCA Communications, Publicity and Outreach Durba Sen - Submissions and Tech Assistance Mary Shisler - Catalog Production Assistance Ruth Petersen Shorer - Artwork Check-in, Installation Lonnie Zarem - Submissions and Tech Assistance 8

Exhibition Artists

Laura Abrams Salma Arastu Christine Cianci Madelyn Covey Daisy Crane Lynn Dau Niloufar Farzam Vicki Gunter Susan Kirshenbaum

Sheila Metcalf Tobin Juliet Mevi Priscilla Otani Laura Phelps Rogers Anne Rabe Kristie Ramirez Jennifer Roberts Ruth Petersen Shorer Siana Smith

Jamie Smith Dobee Snowber Christine So Renée Switkes Leitha Thrall Olga Tsoudis Roberta Welburn-Milstead Marian Yap Beth Zuckerman

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My work depicts the mental turmoil inherent in the tug-of-war between love and hatred. Conflict embodies the tension of self love and self loathing in mirror images of the same person, representing the internal fight to reconcile strong emotions that cause anguish and obsessional thoughts. The figures — one flesh, the other ghostly — are separated by a dagger, a symbol of the struggle. They look away from each other but sit close enough to clasp hands. There is a hint of violence in the red and silver streaked background: calm versus anger. Truly, devastating love and transcendental hatred are separated only by a fractured moment.

Reflecting a lifetime in the arts, Laura Abrams embraces a varied, colorful aesthetic influenced by intricate patterns, stained glass, jigsaw puzzles, nature, dance, theater, and jazz. She works primarily in drawing and mixed media collage, and has recently been focusing on life and plein air subjects. In her artwork, flora and fauna drawings and found images inhabit small scale compositions made of foil, paper, glitter and other textural materials. Each little world has a narrative found within its layers.

After a rewarding career leading the education and community programs department at Cal Performances, UC Berkeley for half her life, Laura has embarked upon a new life as a mixed media artist. She holds a BA in Art History from UCLA and an MA in Arts Administration from NYU. She is currently Professional Development Chair at the Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art.

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Laura Abrams

Conflict Foil, paper, pencil, watercolor, found image, glitter, and mirrored board, 12 x 12 inches, 2023 11

Love is a powerful emotion, for which there is no wrong definition, for it suits each and every person differently. Whether love is between family, friends, or lovers, it is an overwhelming emotion that can be experienced in many different ways. Love is my expression as I believe Love is all that we need to solve devastating situations. I paint faces and stories of love. Sometimes this love is for the Maker, sometimes it is for a mother and sometimes it is for another living being. This springs from a philosophy of the Unity of Being. The love that I depict goes beyond all negatives, it has resolved all misunderstandings and is now pure and sweet. I see forgiveness and acceptance as the hidden forces that finally will help in bringing about this sweet love.

As a woman, artist, and mother, Salma Arastu works to create harmony by expressing the universality of humanity through paintings, sculpture, and poetry. At birth she was given the lifedefining challenge of a left hand without fingers. After graduating in Fine Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India, she lived and worked in Iran and Kuwait before landing in Pennsylvania in 1987. As a visual artist she has had 50 plus solo shows nationally (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Ohio, Missouri, Seattle, Portland and California) and internationally (Germany, Iran, Kuwait, India, Morocco, Australia, and Brazil) and has won several prestigious awards, including the East Bay Community’s Fund for Artists in 2012, 2014, and 2020 and the City of Berkeley’s Individual Artist Grant Award in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Salma has public art pieces on display in Bethlehem, PA and in San Diego, CA.

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Salma Arastu

Heart And Soul-V Acrylics, paper, gesso, pen and ink on canvas, 36 x 36 inches, 2016 13

The Necessitudo Series: Necessitudo is a Latin word that means “need.” In history, it has been used to describe two things: an obligation and a close connection or relationship between people.

This series of three pieces traces a relationship through the symbolism of plants, while the addition of vengeful fairies represent “voices.”

In the first piece the face of the lover is surrounded by opium poppies, the drug of infatuation. The fairies surrounding him, his voices, are playful. In the second, he is surrounded by poisonous plants, the poison of a soured love, and the fairies are sickened and languish. In the third, the face is rooted down by briars, eyes closed, the barbs holding him in place while the fairies have their way with him.

Christine Cianci’s work focuses on the human figure because of its ability to evoke feelings in the viewer. Her work is inspired by dreams and heavily influenced by a love of history, literature, and myth. She also incorporates political or feminist issues, and many pieces reflect a dark sense of humor. Christine holds a degree in Fine Art attained later in life but is largely a self-studied artist.

Her ceramic or plaster pieces are figurative and narrative in concept. She prefers the earthiness of black clay, tinting it with oil colors or gilding after firing rather than using glazes.

In keeping with a fascination with symbolism, Christine created the Roman Tarot Deck, an ancient Roman themed deck, and is also the author of three books, including the companion books, The Roman Tarot: A Contemplative Guide to the Symbolism and Reading of the Roman Tarot.

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Chiristine Cianci

Necessitudo 1 Ceramic, pigment, metallic powders, 10 x 10 x 2 inches, 2020 Necessitudo 2 Ceramic, pigment, metallic powders, 10 x 10 x 2 inches, 2020 Necessitudo 3 Ceramic, metallic powders, 12 x 12 inches, 2020 15

My artwork largely focuses on people and how they perform aspects of their identities or inner selves. I have always loved painting portraits of my friends, community members, and pop culture obsessions, using housemates, folks dressed up at comic book conventions, celebrities, and screencaps of TV shows as subject matter. I find that meditating on their features and body language is a way for me to feel connected to them, and in that way more connected to the world.

After ending my relationship of 13 years, I felt angry and resentful for all the time that I spent trying to connect and build a life with someone who was ultimately unable to meet me. I felt foolish and flagellated myself for using up so much of my life. As I did this portrait of my ex partner, my heart softened and I remembered all of his good, sweet qualities. This helped me forgive myself for trying so hard to make it work for so long. I mostly paint on wallpaper, and my former partner’s mother thoughtfully gave me this wallpaper when she redid her bathroom.

Madelyn Covey is a Richmond, CA, based artist working primarily in painting and drawing. She was born in Sacramento, CA, and has been a San Francisco East Bay resident since 2005. She received her MFA in Fine Arts from Mills College in 2012 and her BA from UC Berkeley in 2008. She currently facilitates painting and drawing at Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, as well as its Saturday Youth Program.

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Madelyn Covey

Sleepy Robbie Oil on found wallpaper, 19 x 25 inches, 2023 17

I am interested in the way different ideologies, emotions, and physical realities can become entangled on the canvas. Through representation, symbols, patterns, textures, feelings, flesh, and more, I create a world where different perspectives transform, overlap, morph, blur, and form into a story that remains open to interpretation and change. In Blood Sun, Body Leaves, the subject wrestles with the extreme beauty of her world alongside the extreme destruction of it. Her mind, body, and the warming environment are entangled. Nature, her skin, and social/cultural structures are all interconnected on the canvas with both beauty and pain. The sun embeds itself into her skin while her skin becomes the leaves around her. She sits in deep feeling — enamored, afraid, and subject to the uncertainty of the future.

Daisy Crane completed her MA in Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego in 2020 and has since focused on combining her background in peace studies with her art practice.

Daisy’s drawings, paintings, and written works explore the emotional, sensory, and cultural components of the climate crisis.

In an effort to blur binaries and embrace ecological cosmologies, Daisy’s paintings portray a combination of elements from the natural world, abstract marks, manufactured materials, and the human body. Daisy celebrates bewilderment and believes deeply in the power of intuitive practices. She maintains an eco-friendly studio practice by using water-soluble, upcycled, and non-toxic materials. Daisy earned her BA and BFA from the University of Kansas in 2018. She was born and raised in Columbia, MO and currently lives in Berkeley, CA.

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Daisy Crane

Blood Sun, Body Leaves Oil and acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 inches, 2019 19

Transitional Wear alludes to the journey from the young professional on the dance floor in a little black dress searching for love and a mate, to the mother with children, on duty 24/7. Motherhood is the one job from which you never go home. I love my children more than anything, but family sacrifice became so consuming and overwhelming that I lost myself along the way. Before marriage and children, I was a professional, a criminal defense attorney. I put my career on pause to be a full-time parent. The form of this piece alludes to a little black bodycon dress; the uniform of my younger self, the carefree single young professional woman dancing at a nightclub. The baby bottle nipples comprising the dress represent the shift in identity and autonomy that came with motherhood and the role of primary caretaker. All nurture all the time; it’s the dress that goes from day to night and back to day again.

Lynn Dau is a sculptor and spatial art instructor at San Jose State University (SJSU). She was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1993, after living in Anchorage, Alaska. Before completing her MFA in Spatial Art at SJSU in 2017, she earned a BA in behavioral sciences from National University and law degree from UC Davis. After practicing as a criminal defense attorney and having two children she returned to school to study art. Since graduating Lynn has worked as a university sculpture instructor teaching at Gavilan College, Santa Clara University, and SJSU. Her art practice explores themes related to domestic life, gender equity, parenting, and consumerism. She works primarily with found object assemblage. She has exhibited her work at venues nationally and throughout her home state of California.

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Lynn Dau

Transitional Wear Found object assemblage, including baby bottle nipples, clothes hanger, wall hook, and thread, 34 x 18 x 3 inches, 2019 21

Broken Heart is one of a series of oil paintings inspired by my personal journey. Only a year has passed since I navigated life’s challenges without my cherished mother. Her absence is an overwhelming presence, surpassing even Maya Angelou’s metaphorical “Country of No Returns.” Within the confines of my heart, my grief appears as a concentrated obsidian blot.

My rational mind resists its relentless grasp, while my heart clings to the darkness that flows through me, indifferent to the world’s reason and responsibility. My artwork serves as a testament to the love I hold for my mother, a love that finds its ultimate expression on these canvases — a self-portrait of my soul’s deepest ache.

The act of creation serves as my final tribute, mourning transformed into a comforting yet bittersweet embrace. Here love and hatred engage in a turbulent dance of emotions, finding solace within the confines of my fractured heart.

Niloufar Farzam’s artwork is a visual representation of her emotional journey through loss and grief. She uses an intense color palette to convey the profound sense of mourning. The central motif in each piece is a concentrated red spot symbolizing the depth of her grief. She employs layered brushstrokes to create texture and depth, drawing the viewer’s eye toward the heart of each painting, where the emotions are most intense. The contrast between the devastating love she holds for her mother and the transcendent hatred she feels for the circumstances of her passing is a central theme in her work and it manifests itself through the interplay of colors, composition and symbolism.

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Niloufar Farzam

Broken Heart Oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, 2023 23

Our yoga teacher, Lilia, said, “Let the earth cradle you.” I loved the peace it gave me. I imagined this sculpture. Time passed. Then we were hit by the pandemic, climate crisis, unemployment, evictions, our people dying and being divided. The murder of George Floyd highlighted the tyranny of it all.

The one thing many could do was hike in nature and let the earth cradle us.

This was the one piece I felt I could create for everyone, everywhere. I hope it helps transcend our hatreds and the devastation of loves lost.

All Cradled: Ocean depths, stratified mountains, stratosphere, fox, butterfly, octopus, amoeba, turtle, seastar, anemone, fish, redwood, dogwood, gull, snail, bee, water, air, rock, us. All the continents are represented in true proportions.

Clay has a memory. It records your fingerprints and all the ways you held it in your hands. Our earth has memory and responds to our manipulations.

My work in clay draws from the knowledge that everything… us, our food, home, clothes, tools, toys all come from the clay and cradle of the earth.

My hope — we will seek solutions in nature-based knowledge to grow, gather, love, consume — with justice for all, leaving the smallest fingerprint.

Vicki Gunter’s earliest clay influence was her teacher, funk-artist Clayton Bailey in 1968. Her eyes were opened to sculptures of belching clams and peeing dogs. Then, at San Francisco State (1968-69) she was swept up into anti-war, ecology and civil-rights movements, joining the five month strike for the first Black Studies Department in the country.

Vicki’s first 45 years as an artist were as a professional dancer. Gentrified out of dance, ceramics resurfaced! At 60, she began a ceramic artist focus. Her first submission won the People’s Choice Award at Santa Cruz Museum.

Her work is inspired by nature’s no-waste complexity in wild places and at her East Oakland home-studio. Vicki’s work has been exhibited throughout the west and nationally. She has received many awards, and is in several private collections. Averaging seven shows a year, the Yosemite Museum, Abrams Claghorn Gallery, Epperson, Crocker Museum, Blue Line, Bedford, Transmission SF, The ArteryCCC and Tennessee U are a few of the 36 galleries that have exhibited her work.

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Vicki Gunter

Let the Earth Cradle You - New Era Series Recycled clay, underglaze, stains, beeswax, 15.5 x 21 x 20 inches, 2021 25

This piece is about the emotional and psychological tension balanced by familiarity and comfort. It is the “push me pull you” of love. To me, love is blue and I work with all shades of blue in my color palette. I think about the relationship of color with my emotions and what I see with my eyes closed. My results tend to be graphic, gestural paintings that express complex emotions and female sensibilities. As a feminist, it is important to me to convey a frankness which feels intimate and natural. My models are female identified, strong, confident individuals — and that’s my underlying narrative. My subjects are usually naked but comfortable in their skins. I pose the question to my viewers: “Are you at home in your relationship?”

A long-time San Francisco resident, Susan R. Kirshenbaum is a dedicated member of the San Francisco Bay Area art community.

She was encouraged to pursue art and photography from an early age as she studied and worked in her family’s art school in Pittsburgh, PA, from age five to 25. She moved to SF where she continued her art studies, met Jack (future husband), and they moved to Hawaii, then NYC before returning to the Bay Area. Susan enjoyed a fruitful career as a creative director for marketing and branding, eventually returning to her calling as a full-time artist in 2016. Her work has won numerous awards, and she exhibits regularly as well as curating exhibitions. Susan served on the San Francisco Women Artists’ Board of Directors as Exhibitions Director for the last five years and currently serves as its Chair for UCSF’s Serenity Art Series. In 2020 she founded The Invisibility Collective, an interdisciplinary social practice group of artists.

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Susan R. Kirshenbaum

Women Together series: Love in Shades of Blue Dye-infused aluminum print, edition 1/1, framed, 24 x 24 inches, 2023 27

A mother’s love, perhaps the most intense of loves, has much to teach us about ourselves. Throughout the pandemic years, I found myself mothering in a heart-wrenching realm, caught between my mother aging with dementia and my teenage children both facing formidable mental health challenges. I instinctively set aside my artmaking practice to govern their respective care. I was lost to myself, removed from the way I process my emotions and experiences until returning to the sanctuary of my studio. There, I set out to create work commemorating my experiences of motherhood, both as a mother and as a child for the sole purpose of my own healing. Mother Daughter Vulture Moon is an homage to an early childhood trauma of being physically and verbally punished by my mother for straying from home to explore a little creek, where I found red dirt clay to shape with my small hands, and the healing that took place when I stood with my own child, allowing them to play safely at the water’s edge. I think I knew mothering would save me, but I had no known recognition of what would need to be broken to reveal a path toward loving myself.

Sheila Metcalf Tobin holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. Long before her formal education began, she fell in love with drawing.

Sheila believes the action and attention required in observation based drawing cultivates a pathway for an intimate connection between the drawer and the subject, a knowing akin to tenderly holding and touching. Today her artwork is driven by the desire to portray the connections between ourselves and our environment.

Her work captures unique characteristics of the land, its flora and fauna, and preserves encounters through drawing. She also uses collage and wall installations to orchestrate compositions that convey the complexity and beauty of humanity and the kinship we share with our wild counterparts. Sheila’s work has been exhibited nationally, internationally and locally in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and is included in many private collections.

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Sheila Metcalf Tobin

Mother Daughter Vulture Moon Wall decals, 54 x 36 inches, 2022 29

I have been making art for over thirty years and have a large inventory of work. Largely self-taught, I started as a painter, enjoying capturing my native state, California, in plein air landscapes. My passion in producing art motivated me to learn printmaking, art book making and hand-pulled paper making.

Today I combine my printmaking skills with painting, working on paper, canvas, wood panels and with found materials. Using these skills I am better able to express myself as an artist. I’m heavily influenced by the Bay Area Figurative movement and this style is evident in my artwork, Let Her Go, selected for this show. However, Let Her Go is not just a painting style. It is also a dialog with myself.

Juliet Mevi is a working visual artist living in Emeryville, CA with a studio of many years at the Sawtooth Building in Berkeley, CA. She has been practicing art for more than thirty years. Although not trained as an artist, she has taken several semesters of art practice courses at Berkeley City College and with the University of California Berkeley Extension. She has shown her work in numerous art shows and art exhibitions throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and has participated in several art residencies. Juliet is a member of the Northern California Women’s Caucus for the Arts, the California Art Club, and NOAPS.

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Juliet Mevi

Let Her Go Acrylic on canvas, 10 x 10 inches, 2022 31

My blood pressure medications have a significant leveling effect on my emotions. Physical changes such as gray hair, swollen knees, and diminishing energy have also rendered me invisible in public settings. I welcome these changes as my magic cloak against unwanted attention and drama. This doll is created in a likeness of myself to devour obsessive desires of love and hate. When used properly, it heals the owner of irrational feelings toward others and wards off unwanted advances by undesirable strangers. When used carelessly, it can turn the owner into an “obsessive demon,” whose hunger for love can never be satisfied and whose incendiary hate can never be extinguished.

Priscilla Otani is Board President of the Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art (NCWCA), founding partner of Arc Studios & Gallery, in San Francisco, art curator and interdisciplinary artist. Founded in 1973, NCWCA has an activist mission in support of women in the arts. As partner of Arc Studios & Gallery, Priscilla has focused on showcasing and promoting emerging and established artists in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a curator, Priscilla has produced local, national and international exhibitions through Arc Gallery, NCWCA, National Women’s Caucus for Art, and the Pacific Center for the Book Arts. As an interdisciplinary artist, she has participated in many activist-themed exhibitions, ranging in subject matter from immigration, reproductive rights, women’s rights, to politics.

Otani received her BA in Psychology and Asian Studies from Mills College in 1974 and her MA in Japanese Literature from Columbia University in 1976. Born in Tokyo, Otani is a bicultural, naturalized United States citizen.

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Priscilla Otani

The Obsessive Demon Doll parts, fabric, yarn, paper, shell buttons, 15.5 x 3.25 x 7.5 inches, 2023 33

The two images selected for this exhibition were created with the work of Cindy Sherman in mind. I had been contemplating the work of Richard Avedon at the same time and had arranged for a friend to be a model in the scenarios to create a series of photographic works with film for darkroom processing. I am a metal caster so process based mediums interest me and darkroom photography offers that. The model in these images is my friend of many years, Gloria. We had talked about wrapping her up in a garden hose Avedon style, but a friend of my father’s mother died, and her name was Mrs. Winter. I assisted with the sale of her things and wound up with many of her vintage clothes. She was very proper, and from there in the backdrop of my mid-century modern home, the idea of contrasting primness with vicious anger was born. It played out in this diptych with Gloria dressed in Mrs. Winter’s clothes. Mustering hate in her gaze, the photo was snapped, with her calm and sense of relief captured in the second image, after the deed was done.

Laura Phelps Rogers is a contemporary artist working primarily in the mediums of cast iron and bronze. Working from her studio in Denver, CO, a substantial portion of her practice explores gender related topics using her preferred medium to contrast femininity with durability and strength. Through her medium and installations, she has mastered additional media to advance her messages.

She has several sculptural quilts to her credit and is interested in social engagement as part of her practice. Widely exhibited, Laura exhibits internationally as a member of the Artnauts collective.

She was born in Colorado and earned her BFA in sculpture from the University of Colorado Denver. Currently, Laura is a candidate for a master’s degree from the Maryland Institute of Art. She has completed several residencies and post graduate studies at Otis College in Los Angeles in Curatorial Practice and NFTs.

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Laura Phelps Rogers

Mrs. Winter on the Edge 1 Silver gelatin photo on paper, 9 x 12 inches, 2021 Mrs. Winter on the Edge 2 Silver gelatin photo on paper, 9 x 12 inches, 2021 35

Looking at the natural, mostly botanical, world from an unusual perspective, I not only focus on the details of a subject, but also on the negative space around it. I am interested in organically occurring patterns and shapes; therefore, my photography verges on the abstract or painterly, an illustrative rather than literal medium. Using an iPhone and multiple applications, my method is truly mobile, bringing an immediacy to my work. I utilize various media and combinations thereof on which to reproduce my images, including aluminum, acrylic, wood, canvas and paper. The image dictates the surface materials I choose in order to create an organic whole. Whisper Sweet Nothings was photographed in the floral department of my local grocery store. The image seemed very sensual and intimate — two florid flowers pressed together — hence the title. I find creative inspiration everywhere and love the spontaneity of being able to use my phone to interpret my vision.

Based in Lafayette, CA, mobile photographer Anne Morrison Rabe studied art at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Academy of Art, San Francisco. She began exploring using her digital photographic images in a way that would combine her love of photography with painting and illustration. She studied with a professional photographer/iPhoneographer learning how to use multiple applications to create unique non-literal works.

The natural world is her studio. She always carries her iPhone with her to spontaneously capture botanically focused images.

Published in several art books and magazines, her work has been shown in over 40 juried art fairs and shows in New York, Santa Fe, and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as internationally. Her limited-edition photographs are displayed by collectors as far afield as New York, Chicago, San Sebastian, Spain, and Maui. She is thrilled to be included in this NCWCA sponsored show at Abrams Claghorn Gallery.

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Anne Rabe

Whisper Sweet Nothings Archival metallic photo paper face mounted to 1.25’ thick acrylic, 10 x 10 inches, 2020 37

Donde Nacen Los Flores is a personal piece dedicated to the love of my life and the fear of losing each other.

The year 2022 was a year full of ups and downs for me. I had two great things happen: I got married, and soon after, I found out I was pregnant. During my pregnancy, I lost two family members. This was extremely difficult to process during what should have been a happy time. I was flooded with all this anxiety about life and death, especially about something happening to me or my husband. The idea of losing each other and that there isn’t anything after this life was frightening for me.

This piece represents HOPE that even through the despair of loss, our love can transcend even death. I created a garden where our love can bloom even after our departure. Certain details in this piece reflect special moments and attributes of each other.

I would like to thank my husband for his endless support and encouragement. Thank you, David, for being my muse. I love you.

Kristie Ramirez is an illustrator/graphic designer based in Richmond, CA, with a Bachelor’s degree in Motion Graphic Design. She has always loved art and has been fortunate to be surrounded by it growing up. She is Mexican/Guatemalan, and both countries are a big inspiration behind her art style. Kristie loves using vibrant colors and would describe her artwork as a mixture of modern, Latin folk art, and realism. Her current collection is inspired by the flowers in her garden and Mexican alebrijes. Many of her pieces try to find light in death. When she is not in the middle of an art project, she enjoys time with her husband and her son, who was born earlier this year.

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Kristie Ramirez

Donde Nacen Los Flores Metal print, 8 x 10 inches, 2023 39

I made this piece for every woman who has ever had to bear an unfair burden of household work at the hands of an unwilling or willfully incompetent partner. I took a defiant gesture, made it ultra feminine, adorned it in a divine halo wreathed in flowers, and set it on top of a rant that I tore into strips and sanded down until it reminded me of dirty dishwater.

The rant in full reads, “I’m not your fucking mommy. Clean up for once in your goddamn life. Why would I ever want to be your stupid little live-in maid? I’m not the household project manager.

Do the fucking dishes, you slob. Take a shower and go to therapy.

Yes I’m angry. Fuck yes I’m angry. Burn it all. Burn them all.”

Women’s anger is a sacred, purifying catalyst for change. It’s my hope that this piece will inspire more people to accept and honor the power of our anger. This piece is part of my series on motherhood, Raw, exposing the forceful emotions that mothers experience but seldom share such as rage, mourning, the frustration of domestic duties, and the animalism of motherhood.

Jennifer Roberts’ arts education began through jazz voice and continued through Argentine tango, where technique and presence intersect. This dance-and-breath energy informs her artwork. Tango combines focused attention to the minutiae of technique with wild abandon to the now. It’s an intoxicating juxtaposition of different energies held together in the present moment.

Jennifer begins with washes of color, sometimes directing it with brushes, pipettes, and spray bottles, other times letting it flow naturally.

The result is a dynamic expression of media that remains tantalizingly beyond complete conscious control. Ink additions to these paintings create tension and call to mind something organic, yet celestial. An interplay of control and spontaneity, she invites viewers to experience a dynamic tension between lightness and darkness. Jennifer regularly exhibits her art throughout the United States and internationally. She continues to dance Argentine tango and is also a stand-up comedian.

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Jennifer Roberts

Divine Defiance of The Mental Load Acrylic, paper collage, ink, aerosol, gold leaf on canvas, 30 x 40 inches, 2023 41

It has been said, “would you have loved less to have grieved less.”

Hurt, anger, sadness, regret, longing and grief are all part of loss.

My dreams died with the death of the relationship. The death of my lover, loss beyond words, a hole in my heart. The devastation leaves me empty, my soul hurts. The pain mixed with the continued love and hate is incomprehensible emotionally. Is it ever understood and assimilated? Or, is it just put aside that I may carry on? My work is painted with the passion, intensity and emotions that are unable to be expressed in words.

Ruth Petersen Shorer’s narrative paintings and sculptures capture powerful universal feelings created by the dichotomies of life. The intensity of experience is felt through depth of color, form and content. The expressive pieces are passionate and inspiring, much like life.

From paintings on canvas, to mixed media and paper, to recycled glass and plexiglass, the pieces step both inside and outside the box. They often evoke a time and place in Ruth’s life, yet others have told her the scenes bring back their own experiences and memories. Ruth’s fingerprints on her work are distinctive across the many mediums she uses to express herself and hopefully reach others. The personal becomes universal.

Born and raised in New York City, she is Californian by choice. Ruth attended art school and the school of life, both equally valuable.

Her work has been exhibited in juried shows, fine art galleries, private collections and museums.

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Ruth Petersen Shorer

Emptiness Oil paint on wrapped canvas, 30 x 24 inches, 2018 43

This was the first piece I created in a series centering around heartbreak. Painting it felt like pouring my raw emotions straight onto the paper, emotions I didn’t even realize were still bottled up. The feeling of rage does not require as much explanation or nuance as some of the others. In writing about it, I find I’m not able to string together much of a narrative.

Disjointed thoughts like: “How could you?”

“This isn’t fair.”

“I hate you!” are all I’m coming up with, but I think that sort of fits the bill. Anger isn’t well-spoken or nicely laid out; it’s frantic and disjointed and red.

Jamie Smith is an artist, wife, and mother in her 30’s living in San Francisco. Born and raised in Idaho, she studied French language and literature at the University of Idaho. Art has long been a hobby and an outlet of hers, but during the isolation of 2020’s quarantine (combined with being a new mom), it became more of a lifeline.

Through this rediscovered passion, Jamie has been using her art to work through and share some of the new life changes she is experiencing and processing older emotions. She hopes that in sharing this work, she can connect with other women/mothers/ people who may be experiencing the same things and celebrate their strength.

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Jamie Smith

Rage Watercolor and paper, 6 x 4.5 inches, 2021 45

Love portrays a warm and tender moment of devotion and connection. An elderly man with a half-opened mouth is poised to feed his ailing wife, who sits in a wheelchair. His wrinkled hands and weathered face tell a story of lifetime together, filled with shared joy and sorrows.

This painting is about a raw, unguarded expression of love — a love that has weathered the test of time, illness, and challenges. I recently changed the palette to be more muted, evoking a sense of quietness, allowing the focus on the man’s face, hands, and the couple’s intimate exchange.

This painting invites viewers to contemplate the beauty of love’s unwavering commitment, the depth of empathy, and the resilience of human relationships. It celebrates the extraordinary within the ordinary, reminding us of the quiet and profound gestures of love that connect souls and define our existence.

An immigrant who came to the United States in the early 1990s, Siana Smith found her calling in art after being an engineer and raising a family. She has painted commodities ranging from fashion accessories to used tissues. She uses vivid colors, larger-than-life scale, and fine details to emphasize subjects and subject matter.

Her figurative works catch fleeting moments in life, fostering engaging dialogues on issues in a social and psychological context.

Siana earned her MFA in fine art painting from California College of the Arts, San Francisco. Her paintings have been shown nationally, including at The DeYoung Museum of San Francisco, the New York Academy of Art, the Triton Museum of Santa Clara, CA, Southern Arkansas University, the Haggin Museum in Stockton, CA, and various galleries. Siana has a passion for public art and community service, and she has painted murals in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Siana Smith

Love Oil on canvas, 22 x 28 inches, 2023 47

It Is usually the people we are most intimate with who inspire or provoke the most intense feelings of love and hate, each of these a dichotomy that cannot exist without the other. Within each of these dichotomies are many levels of feeling, and yet, are they always balanced? An equal measure of pain and passion, of appreciation and resentment, of lust and disgust? In relation to others, this is an ever present and ever precarious balancing act that often leads to ambiguous outcomes.

Dobee Snowber holds a BA in Intellectual History/Feminist Studies from Kirkland/Hamilton College and a BFA in Printmaking /Painting from the Maine College of Art, Portland, ME. She has participated in several residencies, including at the Air Studios, Vermont Studio School and Penland Art Center. She has shown extensively in various venues, including museums, galleries, solo exhibitions, group collaborations, and commercial projects and is part of several private collections in the United States and abroad. She is a member of Artist Alliance, Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art and ArtWorks Downtown. She is currently represented by SHOH Gallery, Berkeley, CA and Mary Praytor Gallery, Greenville, SC. ​ Dobee is currently working as a mixed media artist, making time whenever possible to create. She has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 25 years. Prior to that, she lived in Santa Fe and various and sundry places east of the Rockies, including Maine, New York, Washington DC and New Jersey.

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Dobee Snowber

Stalemate Acrylic, paper, ink and pencil on board, 36 x 24 inches, 2023 49

I printed You’re Everywhere and Nowhere three weeks after my husband died last year. It happened quite suddenly on an ordinary day, leaving a house full of his things just as they’d be on an ordinary day. His shoes were still lined up under the bench.

His toothbrush was still by the sink. Everything looked just as it had been, yet nothing was the same. I could leave the house and another hundred things would remind me of him outside. Foods he loved in the grocery store. A father carrying a little girl. A man in an orange sweater. He was everywhere and nowhere to be found. To convey this duality, I used the analog double-exposure technique of laying one photo negative on top of the other during exposure to create a dreamlike juxtaposition of images. I superimposed Tony’s empty shoes over a foggy path where I hiked. His empty shoes left behind represent the hundred things that daily remind those grieving of their missing one no matter where they go.

Christine So is best known for her work in the 19th century medium of cyanotype. Her fog-shrouded trees in dreamlike blues transport the viewer to a place of calm. Since the loss of her husband in 2022, these familiar trees and stillness of the morning woods have been a comfort. A former printmaker, Christine was drawn to analog photography and cyanotype since monochrome creates a hush and a focus in a way that a busy image of several colors cannot.

Endlessly curious, she explores this medium’s potential through constant innovation, both using photo negatives and shooting without a lens. She prints eerie ghostlike photos of juxtaposed images, botanicals in multiple exposures, abstract cyanotypes in ten shades of watery blue, alters the chemical recipe to get colors other than blue, and paints pictures using the photo emulsion and exposes images within that image. She works in her garden studio in the Oakland Hills.

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Christine So

You’re Everywhere and Nowhere Cyanotype on paper, 20 x 16 inches, 2022 51

After leaving a toxic relationship, I painted this piece as a way to cope and find inner peace. Healing and grieving take time, and during that period, I kept my distance from others to protect my heart. The heart in the painting is locked in a cage to symbolize the need for safety and protection, but birdcages represent freedom as well. To overcome the pain and achieve freedom, I had to forgive the person who caused it, allowing happiness and joy to return to my life. The heart is painted yellow, representing joy, and pumping out the purple darkness of grief.

The purple hyacinth symbolizes sorrow and forgiveness, while the lily of the valley signifies rebirth and happiness. Finally, the white butterfly represents peace, transformation, and hope, as well as departed loved ones. I have since found peace and embraced a new life of freedom and joy.

Renée Switkes, a native of Silicon Valley, finds her inspiration in nature and her backyard art studio. After earning her degree from San Jose State University, Renée began teaching the love of art to children of all ages. While raising her family, she continued to explore her own creativity, but it wasn’t until 2021 that she began exhibiting her paintings. In just two years, her work has been displayed at a dozen galleries, including The Drawing Room, San Francisco Women Artists, and Voss Gallery. Renée has also received recognition for her work with two platinum and two bronze awards. Her paintings have been collected by private collectors across the globe, from France to India, and in various locations in the United States. Her recent acceptance into the state-wide competition and salon by the Triton Museum in Santa Clara is a testament to her exceptional talent and dedication to her craft.

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Renee Switkes

Ameliorate Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 12 inches, 2021 53

Hope Held Hostage symbolizes two opposing forces created by man; one, a newborn life made with love; the other, mechanisms used for only one purpose–to extinguish a living being. Both include one-on-one encounters; both are fueled by passion. Those passions, for either, could be used in a gesture of love or evil.

Evil: In the case of a crime committed upon a woman, life could be born from this heinous act.

Love: In defense of self or of a loved one, an individual may be inclined to use an implement that kills.

For this sculpture, the baby symbolizes life and love. It hangs in the balance over the world surrounded by a cage of bullets. Its umbilical cord reaches beyond its cage of hate and destruction to nurture the beauty that can bloom outside. Unfortunately, I see and hear how innocent individuals of all ages are cheated by a world full of weapons and those who act irresponsibly. Each victim was somebody’s child. My sculptures are constructed to create an interpretation of this reality.

Leitha L. Thrall received her BA from San Jose State University. Prior to graduating, she lived one year in Pietrasanta, Italy, an international sculptors’ setting, and ten months in England. Traveling through Europe, she visited many WWII memorial sites. One site recalled the story of women, elders and children being killed by soldiers, with one particularly horrible act involving an infant.

In England, she visited the Imperial War Museum where she first saw “Trench Art.” She loved the juxtaposition of art created by soldiers using spent implements of destruction. Those two experiences started her journey of making art with symbols that create impactful stories.

They not only include reference news from war-torn countries, but our own weaponry misdeeds in the United States.

Leitha’s work has been shown in different venues throughout the United States and Europe. Her work has been featured in publications, catalogs, and a sculpture reference book.

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Leitha L. Thrall

Hope Held Hostage Bronze (one-of-a-kind), 16 x 6 x 5 inches, 1996 55

I first titled this piece Room 5-406: Cancer, Care, and Comfort in the City. Room 5-406 was the ICU room that my brother was placed in at New York Presbyterian Hospital, in the middle of Manhattan.

He was 48 and died of stomach cancer in the hospital three weeks after his diagnosis. We spent two weeks in that room. I wrote a postcard each day and mailed it to myself, as I focused on illness (specifically cancer), the healthcare system, support system, and medical professionals. To protect myself, I practiced self care and comfort through my camera. The base photos of the art were taken in Central Park. The focus was nature and looking up at the sky and sun. The smaller photos were taken as I walked around Manhattan during the time in which I created comfort for myself. My art and interest in photography for social justice became art therapy in this moment in my life. It was also a way to remember this moment, to share with others, and to honor my brother for all that he gave me.

Olga Tsoudis has taught sociology at the college level since 1993, when she started teaching as a graduate student. Even though Olga taught sociology, she always attempted to include art in the classroom through various projects. She encouraged others to do the same. It was not surprising to see her outside on campus wearing a hat and hammering a stake into the grass where she displayed her students’ work. Olga considers herself a full-time social activist, with a huge passion for art. She retired in 2021 so that she could focus more on sharing her art and messages through art. Her creations include mixed media and artifacts, hoping to give inspiration to others for their own creations. When she can, she teaches art expression workshops at the Cancer Support Community in Flagstaff, AZ. You can always find her in a museum or an art exhibit learning from others.

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Olga Tsoudis

On Death and Dying 1 Wood, paper, photo 16 x 20 inches, 2018 On Death and Dying 2 Wood, paper, photo, 20 x 16 inches, 2018 57

The theme of the current exhibition has been a creative and visual breakthrough for me. Due to my graphic design experience, I have been captivated by the use of typography, whether it be a line, number or letter. The line may be bold and graphic, simple yet lyrical.

My husband was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. He was a voracious reader but this disease, along with robbing him of the use of speech, took away his ability to read. I observed him struggle with the written word, I suspect letters were reduced to mere muddled shape and line.

I’m in the process of creating new work while still experimenting with variation and intent. My hope is the work will touch others with the same emotion I had when the series began with a line.

Roberta Welburn-Milstead resides in Danville, CA. A recent transplant from the East Coast, Roberta earned her BFA from Moore College of Art in Philadelphia. Prior to that she studied the Esthetics and Principles of Fine Art at the Barnes Foundation, led

by Violette de Mazia. Roberta’s early work was in photography and graphic design, with a primary focus on the darkroom process. In addition to her personal journey as a solo artist, Roberta initiated an art group 10 years ago in the San Francisco East Bay to further her exploration of collaboration and shared ideas. Roberta’s most recent work is strongly influenced by her observation and interpretation of the chaotic and colorful world that surrounds us today. Both politics and nature — and even the nature of politics — have acted as Roberta’s muse.

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Roberta Welburn-Milstead

Line Becomes a Letter A Acrylic sanded on Birch panel, 12 x12 inches, 2023 Line Becomes a Letter B Acrylic, mixed media on birch panel, 12 x12 inches, 2023 Line Becomes a Letter C Acrylic sanded on Birch panel, 12 x12 inches, 2023 59

Elements of the natural world provide the inspiration for most of my current paintings. Guided by intuition, emotional response and a sense of exploration of the materials, I strive for simplicity and visual clarity, with particular interest in the subtle variations and effects color can have on perception and emotional response.

I reinterpret landscapes or figurative subjects to include my emotional language and use color — not always as presented by nature — to express and convey impressions. My intention is to simplify expression as far as possible, to remove detail and discover the essence of an idea or emotion.

Stillness was created at a time of life changing events, including loss of a loved one and the unexpected discovery of a newfound love that I thought I would never again experience.

Marian Yap grew up in New York City, where there was amazing access to museums and cultural institutions and the energy of the city was always present. She has lived in California since 1961, residing close to a major urban area and the beautiful Pacific Ocean, surrounded by incredible natural beauty. She draws from many cultures for inspiration, such as the Japanese concepts of wabi sabi and notan.

Marian studied at School of Industrial Art and at the Art Students League, in New York City. In the San Francisco Bay Area, she studied painting with Jackie DiCello, printmaking with Chantal deCleve, and with Linda Goodman at Il Bisonte in Florence, Italy, and mixed media with Inga Infante. She has exhibited in California and internationally, and her artwork is included in many private collections.

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Marian Yap

Stillness Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 20 inches, 2017 61

I describe myself as an artist, a high-energy creature of passion, and the work exhibited in this show exemplifies this more than perhaps any other work I have made. Devastating Loves & Transcendent Hatreds brought to mind conflicting feelings of desire and fear, and the ways these emotional conflicts are compelling.

I turned to self-portraiture only recently, during the boredom and isolation of the early pandemic. My self-portraits, both abstract and representative, were more readily accepted for exhibition than the landscape photography I had produced for decades. I seek to portray the evolving beauty of an aging woman, and to show femininity from a position of strength rather than weakness.

The emotional conflicts depicted in this work display some of the paradoxes of desire, and the power inherent in surrender.

Beth Zuckerman spent 30 years creating documentary-style color landscape photos of her travels and hikes. She reinvented her art when the pandemic limited travel, turning to the intimacy of selfportraiture, and exploring feminist themes. The pandemic freed Beth from a transbay commute, providing her with the time to pursue an AA in Art Photography from Cabrillo College, Aptos.

She expects to graduate in December.

Beth has returned to travel, now making landscape photos with a greater sense of artistry. Her photography education taught her to be unafraid to use her own voice. She also continues to explore feminist themes through self-portraiture. She upends the ways that older women are portrayed in photography, showing herself without retouching her aging skin. As she approaches graduation, she continues to seek a unifying theme in her art.

Beth lives in Berkeley, CA, and works as a legal assistant at a San Francisco law firm.

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Beth Zuckerman

Devastating Kiss Digital photography, 18 x 18 inches, 2023 63

Artist Directory Laura Abrams Oakland, CA laura-abrams.com

Sheila Metcalf Tobin Berkeley, CA sheilametcalftobin.com

Siana Smith Saratoga, CA sianasmith.com

Salma Arastu Berkeley, CA www.salmaarastu.com

Juliet Mevi Emeryville, CA mevi-shiflett.com

Dobee Snowber Berkeley, CA dobeesnowber.com

Christine Cianci San Francisco, CA ccianciart.com

Priscilla Otani San Francisco, CA mrpotani.com

Christine So Oakland, CA christineso.gallery

Madelyn Covey Richmond, CA madelyncovey.com

Laura Phelps Rogers Denver, CO lauraphelpsrogers.com

Renée Switkes San Jose, CA artbyreneeswitkes.com

Daisy Crane Berkeley, CA daisycrane.art

Anne Rabe Lafayette, CA amr-photography.com

Leitha L. Thrall Pinole, CA

Lynn Dau San Jose, CA lynndau.com

Kristie Ramirez Richmond, CA @atomick_designs

Niloufar Farzam Pleasanton, CA niloufarfarzam.com

Jennifer Roberts Oakland, CA ladraroberts.com

Vicki Gunter Oakland, CA VickiGunter.com

Ruth Petersen Shorer Berkeley, CA ruthshorer.com

Susan Kirshenbaum San Francisco, CA cherrypits.net

Jamie Smith San Francisco, CA jamiesmith.art

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Olga Tsoudis Flagstaff, AZ @olgilady Roberta Welburn-Milstead Danville, CA robertamilstead.com Marian Yap Pacifica, CA marianyap.com Beth Zuckerman Berkeley, CA bethzuckerman.com