ON MAIN        PROGRAMS        ABOUT        ENGAGE        SUPPORT        AT HAWLEY  


CONFLUENCE

WORKS OF MAREN BROWN, FELICE CAIVANO, and TEKLA McINERNEY

NOVEMBER 12 - DECEMBER 20

opening reception
Friday, Nov. 14; 5-8pm



As the title suggests, the exhibition brings together artworks by Brown, Caivano, and McInerney that touch upon shared interests, ideas, and sometimes imagery, that have emerged during routine and informal critique sessions. Over the years, the artists have engaged in a practice of perceptive collaboration — the careful consideration of observations that arise in critique and the application of those ideas to their work. These observations have insinuated themselves into their art practice; sometimes subtly and sometimes in new directions entirely. The exhibition highlights how collaboration and conversation among artists can influence creative direction, while still foregrounding the individuality of each practice.

In addition to the opening reception, the artists have curated three Friday evening events will take place during the run of the exhibition. Please see EVENT details below.




For this exhibition, MAREN BROWN will present paintings from her ongoing Origin(al)s series, executed in egg tempera and gold leaf on panel. Brown’s work examines both the promise and ethical dilemmas presented by scientific research into DNA. Inspired by the paradox that 99.9% of our DNA is the same for all of humanity, while the remaining fraction makes us entirely unique, Brown’s exploration of the subject reflects on the ways DNA is used in medicine, archeology, and other fields. Her use of egg tempera and gold leaf evokes the sacred tradition of icon painting, while her experimental methods mimic the ways scientists are breaking boundaries in their DNA research.  Brown is an award-winning painter based in Northampton, Massachusetts. Her work has been selected for juried exhibitions by curators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Yale University Art Gallery, and has been featured in group and solo shows throughout New England, including the Hill-Stead Museum, New Bedford Art Museum, and the Attleboro Arts Museum.FELICE CAIVANO collects, assembles, pins, wraps, and stitches reclaimed doilies and lace to create labor intensive installations and sculptural objects. The labor and beauty embedded in uncredited women’s work — historical lacework  — is at the core of her practice. She is particularly interested in late 19th and early 20th crocheted lace that had its origins in immigration and poverty. Her objects utilize vintage lace to underscore markers of identity, cultural memory, and shared experiences of their original makers. Caivano is a professor and chair of the Visual Art Department, Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, MA. She has been a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, Italy, an Artist-in-Residence at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy, and Fine Arts Curator at Trinity College, Hartford, CT.  She received a Fellowship in Sculpture from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions.TEKLA McINERNEY’s hand-pulled prints, artists’ books, and embroidered narratives amplify the voices of unnamed women — past and present. Referencing both the individual and the collective, she combines the written word with familiar materials to quietly feature the unseen and unheard. Her work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and is in many private and public collections including the Bainbridge Museum of Art, New York Public Library, and Yale University Library. She has been awarded several residencies throughout New England and abroad and received a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship/Finalist Award in drawing and printmaking.
EVENTS

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21; 6-7:30pm
Slow Aesthetics 
with Mollye Maxner and Kathy CouchFRIDAY, DECEMBER 5; 6-7:30pm
Poetry Reading
Carol Potter and Maya JansonFRIDAY, DECEMBER 12; 6-7:30pm
Perceptive Collaboration: How Dialogue Shapes Art
with Maren Brown, Felice Caivano, and Tekla McInerney


A.P.E.'s programming is made possible in part by sustained support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.