Arizona artists to be featured at ASU Gammage exhibit

Two Arizona-based artists, whose work ranges from abstract expressionism to photographs and charcoal drawings, will be featured in an exhibition at ASU Gammage, beginning Feb. 22 through May 4.

Marlene Burns, who identifies with the abstract expressionist movement, offers an exciting and expressive body of work. She plays with color, edgy design and mixed media to produce art that befits the process. Her large, gallery-wrapped canvases make bold statements, identifying her signature style.

Having bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Cincinnati’s School of Design, Architecture and Art, Burns is represented by galleries from New York to California, most notably in Santa Fe, N.M. Based in Tucson, she keeps up a full art festival schedule, and her work has been internationally recognized in recent years.

“I experiment with the medium, using airbrush ink to create the shapes, and then allowing the ink to drip and move around on the canvas,” she says. “Additional texture is built with layers of gesso, molding paste and acrylic paint. Then I hide what isn’t needed in fields of color that wash areas of the canvas, leaving a myriad of subtleties to discover.”

Gwendolyn Stine is drawn to studies of nature and of Native Americans, believing there is a divine design running through the whole of life. Her works blend photographs with charcoal drawings, and they reflect her belief in the patterns of events and their infinite possibilities.

"I believe in the power of point to point relationships and their infinite possibilities," she says. "This belief runs through the whole of all I do. Whether it is a charcoal value study, done using the side of my Conte sketch pencil or a digital image I have captured and digitally reworked by layering varying textural images. Each piece is designed within a Golden Section rectangle which in and of itself speaks to connectedness.

"The images I create are those that, for reasons not entirely clear to me, ask to be acknowledged somehow. They have an aspect or feeling of relating or wanting to engage the viewer. It is this unseen essence I work to call attention to in my creations as an artist."

Her drawing, “Peace of Strength,” was selected for inclusion into the Laumeister Fine Arts Competition at the Bennington Center for the Arts in Vermont, and was awarded first place by the editor of Fine Arts Connoisseur magazine. Her studio is in Mesa.

Exhibit hours at ASU Gammage are 1 to 4 p.m., Mondays, or by appointment. Due to rehearsals, event set-up, performances, special events and holidays, it is advisable to call 480-965-6912 or 480-965-0458 to ensure viewing hours, since they are subject to cancellation without notice.

The street address is 1200 S. Forest Ave., Tempe. Parking is available at meters around the perimeter of ASU Gammage. Entrance is through east lobby doors at the box office.