Central Park

The Daily Plant : Friday, March 7, 2003

DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE ROCKS THAT I GOT, I'M STILL A PAINTER FROM THE BLOCK

In a show entitled "Silent Voices," Brooklyn-based artist Charla's colorful abstract paintings swim across the canvas and brighten the walls of the Arsenal Gallery with subtle variations of blues, reds, oranges, browns, and just about every other color under the sun. Yet Charla proudly admitted at the opening reception for her show that she had received help in producing her craft. But she wasn't talking about a typical artist's assistant. In fact, she wasn't talking about a human being at all. Rocks and trees helped create the paintings. "I think of them as collaborators," she said.

Before painting onto the canvas in a more traditional manner, Charla prepares her canvases by taking them into the wild and wrapping them around a tree or boulder. Rubbing over the canvas, she is able to recreate the particular object's texture. "I've painted since I was little," said Charla. In 1994, however, she was in her studio preparing her canvas on her wall when she first conceived of her novel process. The studio wall's textures began to appear on the canvas and she was pleased with the accidental result. She quickly brought this technique to the woods, and for the last nine years she has prepped her canvases in this fashion before returning to her studio and completing her paintings. The finished pieces, with beautiful colors and abstract shapes, evoke a magic of the natural world.

"I'm really happy to be here [at the Arsenal]…because this is a place that advocates for nature," said Charla. "Here it's promoted, elevated."

In the finished works, nature is almost imperceptible. Soft, abstract forms painted in oil and acrylic seem vaguely reminiscent of a horizon line draped in fog, luminous light falling on water, or a rough stone viewed through a microscope. Charla's paintings may begin as texture portraits of specific natural elements-a New Hampshire birch tree or a sandstone boulder in New Mexico's Box Canyon-but her art is in capturing the physical force and meditative power of nature.

"For New Yorkers, trees not only provide us with necessary clean air, but they also fill us with awe and, often, the inspiration to create," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "We are happy to showcase works by this Brooklyn-based artist whose paintings expand the dialogue between art and the natural environment."

Charla has exhibited at the June Kelly gallery and the National Academy of Design in New York. Other exhibitions include solo and group shows in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington, DC. She holds degrees from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and the Pratt Institute in New York City.

"Silent Voices" runs through April 3, 2003. The Arsenal Gallery is located in Central Park at Fifth Avenue and 64th Street. The gallery is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

"I loved him too much not to hate him at all!"

(1639-1699)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center