Jessica Bingham

Main Gallery

Exhibition Statement:

In 2015, following the untimely death of my longest friend, I began examining the influence loss and trauma can have on our memories, connection, innocence, and joy. For many years, my studio practice was rooted in maintaining that friendship. What followed, as I carried my daughter in my womb, babies I will never meet on Earth, and most recently my newborn son, was the complexity of making work about loss while bearing new life. A bittersweet, emotional, and spiritual experience to say the least. Along that same vein, I learned the art of gardening during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tending the Earth reflected ideas of hope, struggle, perseverance, patience, and mortality that I embed into my paintings. The garden became an extension of my studio practice and has provided me with new insights on life and loss. My collaged and hand-sewn paintings honor the process of gardening, friendship, and motherhood, and are adorned with homegrown wildflowers and gifted bouquets from periods of loss and birth.

The title of the exhibition, I love you more than you do, is a phrase my daughter says to me about her believing she loves me more than I love her. It’s a sweet saying, one filled with the purest and gentlest form of competition. She truly thinks she loves me more than I love her. Perhaps in some ways she does, as the heart of a child is pure love. But as her momma I always strongly disagree with her, reminding her it’s my job to unconditionally love her. Therefore, the work in this exhibition is a love letter to her, to our new son, to our family, to our home and garden, and to our community. After struggling through multiple pregnancy losses, I felt stripped of my female energy and often lost within my own inner dialogue. My daughter unknowingly kept me going. She held me together through the toughest days and allowed me to be everything I needed to be in those times, not comprehending the pain I was in. I poured love into our home and garden, and received endless support from my community. This new body of work was made while pregnant with my son, now just weeks old. These pieces reflect the sadness, joy, and hope in my life over the last two years. They are an expression to my children of how deeply I truly love them, more than they will ever know.

A Beautiful City

Ruth Ann Pycke

Project Space Gallery

Artist Statement

Every city has positive and negative qualities, however; in a world where so much of the focus is on the negative of places and people- Ruth Ann likes to paint cities in a beautiful and expressive way, highlighting and reminding people what they first love most about their home. Come see a city viewed in wonder, a city viewed in a child-like manner, "A Beautiful City".

The opening reception for both exhibitions will be June 7th, 5-8 p.m.

The work will be on view June 7th - June 29th.

Gallery events are always free and open to the public. Refreshments available and parking on the street is free after 5 p.m.