continues the series of exhibits exploring the physical, religious and spiritual aspects of The Elements (earth, air, 
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Agni, 1988-2006
Craig McPherson
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fire and water) at The Gallery of Contemporary Art at Sacred Heart University. The exhibit opens on September 17 and runs through October 26. There will be a reception from 1–3:30 p.m. on September 17 and a panel discussion will follow featuring artists, Ula Einstein (New York), Bryan Nash Gill (New Hartford, Conn.) and Siona Benjamin (Montclair, N.J.). The moderator will be Dr. June-Ann Greeley (Westport, Conn.), SHU assistant professor of Religious Studies.Exhibiting artists include Siona Benjamin, Sharon Coffin (Hamden, Conn.), Willie Cole (New York), Carol deBerry (Portland, Conn.), Esme Disch (Wayland, Mass.), Joshua Dorman (New York), Ula Einstein, Alan Falk (Huntington, Conn.), Francine Funke (Stamford, Conn.), Bryan Nash Gill, Christine Goldbach (Stratford, Conn.), Susan McCaslin (Darien, Conn.), Craig McPherson (Warrenton, Va.), Alice Merlone (Hamden, Conn.), Irene K. Miller (Woodbridge, Conn.), David Sena (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Judith Steinberg (Stamford, Conn.), Adam Straus (New York), Suzy Sureck (Gardiner, N.Y.), Kevin Thomas (Westport, Conn.), Lee Tribe (New York), Barbara Wilk (Westport, Conn.), Idaherma Williams (Princeton, N.J.) and Lynn Yeslow-Finn (Hopkinton, Mass.).
The pre-Socratic philosopher Empedocles (c. 492-432 BC) noted the world's division into four naturally occurring elements—“earth, sea, air, and the fiery aether of the heavenly bodies” as the basis of all matter. For centuries, these elements continued to be the foundation for our decoding of the world.
From the dawn of time, fire has provided an awesome force in the universe, both mysterious and complex. Human awareness of daily light resulted from the fire of the sun, appearing first as the comforting heavenly lights of sun, moon and stars. It had the capacity to nurture through its ability to provide warmth and comfort against the cold. It could illuminate the darkness and ward off danger. However, fire also manifested its fearsome capabilities through lightning, wildfires and volcanoes, a destructive force that defied the imagination. The discovery, capture and control of fire were, arguably, the most significant developments in the survival of the species and charted the route to civilization.
“For artists, fire can be both a subject matter and a tool that supplies the implements and raw materials used to create their art, or a means by which the art itself is created,” stated Sophia Gevas, director of The Gallery of Contemporary  |
Plume I, II, III, 1993, Francine Funke
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Art. “It provides the charcoal that creates a line, the process that melts or arranges the metal, and/or a means to transpose vision to creation,” she continued.
Fire is the common starting point for each of the works in this exhibit. Each artist has a unique and particular connection to the subject of fire and each produces a very personal result.
Fire is comfort. In Craig McPherson's oil painting Agni (1988-2006) the Hindu god of fire illustrates the burning barrels of fire of the homeless, but here the raw material to be burned are picture frames. Known for his environmental concern, Adam Straus presents the diptych Memorial (1995) that depicts one unlit and one lit candle with a bloom suspended in a dark sensuous background.
Fire is a religious and mythological symbol. Alan Falk's painting Ezekiel: The First Vision (2006) takes a moment from the Bible to illustrate the power of fire. Siona Benjamin paints works about displacement. Raised in India as a Jewish woman, and now living in New York, Benjamin's complex painting Finding  |
Woodprint 2003 Bryan Nash Gill |
Home #68 (Lilith) (2004) features Persian miniature-like surfaces, while a female in a yoga position wearing concentration camp garb sits in a fire and tends to watering plants whose bulbs contain embryonic children. Esme Disch, Idaherma Williams and Lynn Yeslow-Finn, refer to common knowledge of the ancient world. Disch's freely depicted Firebird (2006) dramatically swoops up from the ground. The Slaying of Cerberus, Guardian of Hades (2005), one of twelve in a portfolio of the Labors of Hercules by Williams, and Yeslow-Finn's monotype Persephone (2004) refer to the ancient myths and the fires of hell.
Fire is metaphor. Willie Cole's tongue-in-cheek lithograph Burning Bush (2002) makes a political statement, while Sharon Coffin's amusing mixed media painting flash•point (2006) makes reference to the heat of two people meeting and connecting to each other. Barbara Wilk's oil crayon Their World Is on Fire (2000) features terrified stick figures and circular images that resemble primitive drawings on cave walls.
Fire is heat. Volcanoes are the subject matter for Alice Merlone's Eruption: Molten River (2006), a monoprint of flowing lava, and Kevin Thomas' Black Mountain 4, Siren #7 (2001), a highly glazed, ceramic version of an underwater volcano. Josh Dorman's Near the Villa of the Mysteries (2004), a painting with layers of dream-like imagery, depicts an exploding mouth-shaped volcano, seen over a ground of antique maps, while Irene K. Miller's Ashes (2006), a monotype collage, indicates the aftermath of a fire.
For other artists, fire is light. Suzy Sureck makes Plexiglas sculptures and photographs their cast shadows to create luminous powerful images in Chiaroscuro 1261 (2006). Judith Steinberg's Underexposed (1983), a small box sculpture, refers to X-rays and their power over our bodies. With a red glow from within and hair coming out of the top of the box we are reminded of our fragility. With feminist overtones, Cavern (2006), by Susan McCaslin, indicates the glow of a fire within a slightly menacing cave that hovers over two figures that seem unaware. Carol deBerry's Fireflies (2006), a monotype with crayon, depicts the fascinating light that is emitted on warm summer evenings.
For artists David Sena, Ula Einstein, Bryan Nash Gill, Francine Funke, Christine Goldbach and Lee Tribe, fire is power; it can create and destroy. David Sena controls fireworks to create his drawings on paper. The process of creating Untitled (2005) is viewed on a DVD next to the drawing in the gallery. Ula Einstein creates ephemeral sculptural works of paper and wire that are singed, allowing the sienna-tinged edges of the paper to act as subtle color on the forms that spiral out from the wall casting delicate shadows in Intricacies (2006). Directly influenced by the northern Connecticut woods where he lives, Gill exhibits Woodprint with Woodcut Block (2003), a sculpture of a huge Hemlock log that has been burned, inked and hand printed in three long scrolls.
For Francine Funke, the oil fires of Kuwait were the inspiration for Plume I, II and III (1993). Three of the series of five large-scale acrylic canvases, collaged with painted paper, depict the beginning, middle and end of the raging fires that devastated the countryside. Christine Goldbach also uses fire to burn images into wood panels, in this case Burn X, Bottles I (2005), depicting glass bottles, which cannot be created without fire and sand. Lee Tribe, a sculptor in the abstract tradition, is represented by Born of Fire (2006), a dense, graceful, yet twisting figure with a black patina that seems to grow upward as we watch.
Otto Weininger, the Austrian philosopher said, “Among the notable things about fire is that it also requires oxygen to burn – exactly like its enemy, life. Thereby are life and flames so often compared.” Each of these artists is intimately connected to fire and by association to life.
The Gallery of Contemporary Art is located at the University's main campus at 5151 Park Avenue, in Fairfield, Conn. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 12 to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 12 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 203-365-7650 or visit http://artgallery.sacredheart.edu.