Broken Mirror at the Techne Art Center

By Patricia Frischer

William Feeney

Broken Mirror at the Techne Art Center

A Broken Mirror conjured up images of bad luck, accidents, and psycho movies. But that is really not the case with this exhibition, which is, instead, the partial reflections of multiple minds.  

Artist and curator Chuck Thomas and cofounder Leslie Wang have a really terrific and really large space in Oceanside that is set up as a gallery with a few studios.  The spaces are so large that shows here can almost be conceived as multiple one person exhibitions. The partners are developing a stable of artists slowly by exhibiting a combination of local and national artists, many from New York and others discovered through art fairs around the county, especially like Spring Break in LA. Techne Art Center has been open less than a year, but there is a possibility of more art gallery and studio space to come.

I have chosen just some of these artists in the following report, but the full list is Bryan De Roo, William Feeney, Annalise Neil, Julie Goldstein, Sarah Bereza, Rozko Garabatos, Josh Dov and Shelly Burgon

William Feeney's art is about questions.  He tries to tell a story, but gets hung up on details, which would be easy to gloss over.  Feeney occupies those taken-for-granted aspects of the narrative, and presents objects that speak to questions he has fixated on.  The result is his artwork occupies a space that exists between things. All those tiny pieces of wood veneer that make up feet, or the complicated rolled up skeleton or the oversize skull with its gun shaped tongue/arm/fingers lead us up, around, through and back. William Feeney is a past SD Art Prize recipient.

Annalise Neil like Bill Feeney is a local artist but educated in New York. She is working with visual metaphors in the series of cyanotypes on view. These metaphors seem to want to connect the viewer as a human being to other ecological environments with which we share this earth. So though there are no figures, we see some of the views through human eyes of flowers, plants, suns, water forced into round shapes, even bowls and dishes.

Julie Goldstein, the third local artist in this show, is a storyteller who uses her own life plus historical women to inspire empowerment. Her mixed media works include paper and fabric, lithography and woodcut printing. I think it is the woodcutting that shows most the hand of the artist as she uses a wooden spoon to burnish the ink into the paper. The editions are thus very limited i.e., only 3 per block which can be as large as 4 by 6 feet. But her work seems always to have an element of water… she invites you to swim and boat with her.

Sarah Bereza seems to be starting with an empty frame, but somehow the frame takes on its own importance. It morphs and enters the interior space and only allows either the natural world or other worldly creatures to join it. A visit to Chernobyl with the disappearance of everything is a stated influence.  

Although Chuck Thomas is not part of this show, he has a studio at Techne Art Center and his works were on view in the second floor where the exhibition continues. These luscious oils draw you in like a sweet tray of cookies your grandkids might over decorate, with so many colors and sprinkles and lots of drawing outside of the lines. I was especially intrigued when I visited his website and saw the cityscapes that he made previously. This is a continuous journey for an artist who duplicates and repeats to reproduce his travels. As the curator of this exhibition, you might even say he has a vested interest in mirroring the world.    

William Feeney

William Feeney

William Feeney, detail

 

 Rozko Garabatos 

Julie Goldstein

Julie Goldstein

Julie Goldstein

Sarah Bereza

Sarah Bereza

Annalise Neil

Annalise Neil

Annalise Neil

Bryan De Roo

Chuck Thomas

Chuck Thomas

Chuck Thomas

Chuck Thomas, scarf

Leslie Wang and Chuck Thomas

Broken Mirror showing until September 16^th
Bryan De Roo, William Feeney, Annalise Neil, Julie Goldstein, Sarah Bereza, Rozko Garabatos, 
Josh Dov and Shelly Burgon  
Techne Art Center 1609 Ord Way, Oceanside, 92056
More info: Chuck Thomas  917.972.1752
Wed-Fri 1-7pm, Sat 12-6pm

Leslie Wang is also a jeweler and her works are available to see by appointment at Techne art Center. 

Leslie Wang

Leslie Wang