Canopy Studio, 508 W. 26th St. #6E

December 4-7

Opening

Wednesday, December 4, 6-8 pm

The show's title is a reference to the European folktale Stone Soup, in which a famished traveler persuades a group of villagers to contribute ingredients to a “magic stone” soup. Curiosity and trust bring them together, and the entire group is rewarded with a nourishing meal. Similarly, this cohort of Canopy artists were initially strangers, each hungry to enrich their practice and expand their artistic communities. They met with mentor artist Yevgeniya Baras for three semesters to share their in-process work, along with questions and insights that emerged during this time. Hungry Strangers is the result of their year-long collaboration, which began with the common “stone” of curiosity.

Sharing an affinity for materiality, and a sensitivity to shape and color, the artists in this show utilize a variety of painting languages to explore themes of place and impermanence and contemplate philosophical and spiritual questions. Federico Rosa and Joan Reutershan respond to their urban environments, incorporating references to the places they live: weathered and decaying architectural surfaces, or graffiti tags and found objects. While Rosa layers rippling patterns of paint and abrades his surfaces to conceal more than he reveals, Reutershan combines cacophonous colors, patterns, and figures to evoke the sights and sounds of NYC.

Jennifer Galvin makes paints from foraged earth pigments and inks, incorporating them into her mixed media practice, to create intimate forms that hug, tug, and slip within the edges of the rectangle. Emily Manning-Mingle’s engagement with place involves a patient practice of direct observation and a commitment to material exploration. Her absorbent grounds, compelling colors, and expressive marks create immersive spaces that delight in the pleasure of slow looking and the joy of discovery. Mona Monroe paints symbols that reference personal memories. She incorporates ritualistic acts, such as sewing and binding, into her work and buries textiles outdoors, then excavates and transforms them into spiritual narratives.

Rebecca Michels ruminates on cycles of life and motherhood by creating delicate marker drawings on newsprint, allowing one drawing to bleed into the page below, “birthing” a new drawing in the process. Her fabric paintings are made with remnants, sewn together with sensitive stitches, to create tension between attachment and impermanence. Pamela Keravuori taps into her subconscious to create provocative mixed-media abstractions of biomorphic and geometric shapes on the edge of recognition and the periphery of performance.

Sara Sackner and Jason Brooks create dense and vibrant abstractions that bring us into a heightened awareness of physical and metaphysical spaces. While Sackner’s gouache compositions reference macro and micro moments in her daily environment, Brooks’ impasto symbols are influenced by philosophical ideals, including balance and harmony.