Clare Gallery: Artist Talk (virtual)

Clare Gallery’s second 20th anniversary exhibition, Old Growth includes works by Connecticut artist Roberta Shea. Shea started her artistic practice later in life. She always knew she loved experimenting with painting and drawing, but when she moved to new surroundings, her creative energy motivated her to pursue a professional practice. 

Shea believes that it is “never too late to start over and make your mark,” and her marks are mesmerizing. You cannot help but get caught up in the work’s rhythm, space, and emotional color palettes. The work draws you in to investigate the activity on the surface, yet it also asks you to step back to view the entire work. Her process is very physical with paint being dripped, scrapped, dragged, and layered, creating thick impasto and thin surfaces of abstract representation. When you focus on one part, it becomes its own abstract painting. Then, if you step back, a larger landscape reveals itself.  Her physical mark-making mimics nature’s powerful process of renewal. 

Learn more about this exhibit on the Clare Gallery’s website.