The new Elisa Contemporary Art exhibit, Leaves and Petals, previews on January 25 at the Elisa Contemporary Art Gallery in Riverdale NY. The exhibit will run through March 29, 2023.

Our first 2023 exhibit focuses artwork inspired by trees and flowers. They each honor and celebrate the beauty of mother nature throughout a range of stages. The exhibit features photography, paintings and mixed media collages. The featured artists are: Cynthia MacCollum, Jill Morton, Rebecca Swanson, Jennifer Glover Riggs, Tim Nighswander, Deborah Weiss and Nancy C. Woodward. This is the first time Jill Morton, Tim Nighswander and Nancy C. Woodward have been shown at the gallery. All three artists capture unique elements of Nature.

According to Morton, "What I paint is abstract, unfiltered and comes straight from what I am feeling in response to nature and place… I want to share my colorful abstract works so others can experience my view of joy and beauty in nature.

While Nighwander, recently featured in Create magazine believes, "My work is intended as a way to take the viewer on a journey to see the world in my unique way. I find beauty in the ordinary and overlooked and seek out juxtapositions and abstractions of light, line, form and gesture that we walk by everyday without noticing.” Woodward’s focus is on trees, “I photograph all things magical that I come upon in the natural world. I catch a glimpse of a story hidden in the architecture of a tree and begin working my camera. Bringing my images into the digital darkroom provides the tools to coax out even the faintest of shadows and ethereal landscapes. I experiment with different color palettes and papers to bring new realms into view that my mind’s eye joyfully recognizes.”

The exhibit includes gallery artist Rebecca Swanson and her Prismatica series. Swanson “paints” with her camera, blending the abstract forms of nature with subtle colors to build intimate portraits of perfect, individual blooms. The Prismatica series which are focused on the flower's center. They have a kaleidoscope sense of motion and a wonderful sensual quality.

We are also featuring Connecticut Artist, Deborah Weiss with work from the “Blooms” series. According to Weiss, “Blooms is a celebration of the contemporary botanical image. I have used my own dyed and painted papers for these hand-cut collages. Choosing to interpret the textures and organic shapes in blue and white is in reverence to the rich history of this color pairing. First in China and later in Europe, blue and white wares were treasured. Taking the bloom formations a step further, I am also pursing multiple color palettes and the inclusion of vintage papers.”

The exhibit features watercolors by Cynthia MacCollum from her 2020/2021 Thirteen Moons project. The artwork shown was created during the “Flower Moon” in May and according to MacCollum, “The woods in May are full of spring ephemerals, flowers that take advantage of the sunlight reaching the ground before trees are in leaf. This was a period of excitement and discovery for me, as I followed the progression of blooming wildflowers. The Flower Moon earned its name because it truly is the time of flowers.”