My Friend Visits by Sharon Nakazato
STUDIOMATES
Paintings by Sharon Nakazato & Christopher Staples
March 19 – April 11, 2010
Reception: Sunday, March 21, 2-4 pm
Mixed-media artists Sharon Nakazato and Christopher Staples, artists who share a studio in Carmel, N. Y., present works that combine symbolic and literal imagery with vibrant color and diverse cultural references in a showing of their art at the Ridgefield Artists Guild.
“Working across the table from an active, innovative, highly creative individual actually strengthens my awareness of what is uniquely me and my own,” says Nakazato, a licensed teacher of Japanese calligraphy, whose years working as an artist in Japan are subtly reflected in her current offerings. Having a studiomate, she says, also reinforces her determination to make art a priority in her life.
Musing I by Christopher Staples
Staples, an award-winning artist and workshop leader, renovated a barn on her property to serve as a studio in 2005. She initially sought a studiomate to help defray expenses, but soon found that having a fellow artist in residence also provided mutual psychic benefits.
“Sharon and I often share creativity-enhancing, self-searching exercises that we have developed or found to provide fresh well-springs for our art-making,” says Staples. “While our work is very different, we are fellow travelers on the same path.”
One creative practice shared by the studiomates is that of creating “mandalas” — circular drawings filled with subconscious symbols that stimulate and inform their other creative works. Many of these will be included in in the show at the recently renovated Upstairs Gallery which is open from 12 to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
