Pathway to Perception Where is it that you sit inside yourself and observe the world? How does it effect your experience of life? These questions are addressed in Pathway to Perception, an exhibition in which each artist brings their own touch of inspired 'madness' to bear in a series of pieces that issue a sometimes gentle, sometimes stark challenge those who view them.
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Hubert Cance
 
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Multi-talented artist Hubert Cance has an astounding range of work, from fanciful illustrations of knights and medieval machinery to mystical, beautifully crafted paintings. Born in Aurillac, France, Cance’s youthful imagination was stimulated by growing up in a house filled with books on local history, folk stories and classical culture. Following his military service, Cance worked as a freelance pattern designer for a variety of scale-modeling firms, a position that strengthened his technical skills. His concise illustrative work has been published in numerous books and periodicals from England to Japan.
Cance’s attention to detail is a dominant force in his paintings that is rivaled only by his boundless imagination. His audience will revel in Cance’s imaginings, a world of elemental spirits, ancient forests, and epic battles. Cance is adept at capturing more delicate moments as well, such as in his landscapes of flowing pine trees or the still waters of Venice cloaked in moonlight. Hubert Cance lives and works in France. |
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"Earth"
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"Fire"
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Marci Erspamer
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Utah native Marci Erspamer doesn’t believe in separating art and life. Her abstract paintings are precise and clean, yet emotionally wild, as if something is pulling at the seams, strictly contained by her brush. Erspamer is interested in human connection and empathy, and one sees this in her work; her subjects exude a frenetic energy from within their lines, a singular object, starkly alone on the canvas. Self-taught and drawing from her own life experiences, her work wants to resist categorization. Though, clearly, cubism and surrealism has affected Erspamer, hints of art nouveau and tribal design push the boundaries of their influence to an intriguing end.
Full of vibrant color and a dreamlike anxiety, her work is crisp yet visually boisterous. Erspamer began exhibiting her work in 2003. She is a full-time artist and currently lives and works in Richmond, Virginia |
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"Flock of Birds "
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"Self-Portrait"
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William Griffin
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William Griffin paints figures as forms and shapes, touching and reacting in sensual gestures. He uses the human figure’s power to express strong physical and emotional content. Drawing on many years of Fine Arts studies at Washington University in St. Louis, as well as his continued self-study, Griffin has developed a personal style, which brings immediacy to his work. His use of subdued color keeps the dominant focus on the figure itself. Griffin describes the torso in a modernist manner, taking note of abstract shapes, without diminishing the drama of the human form. His paintings, executed on a grand scale, create a powerful experience for the viewer. Figures are pushed up against the frontal plane of the painting, confronting the viewer with an intimacy resembling the encounter between his subjects.
Griffin is Artistic Director for the Veiled Prophet Parade, centerpiece event of the annual July 4th holiday celebration in St. Louis. He designs and produces monumental sculpted/painted parade floats, recognized throughout the country for their originality and complexity.
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"Encounter Series I"
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"Encounter Series II"
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Andreanna C. Iakovidis
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Surrealism is an overriding theme in the intriguing work of Andreanna C. Iakovidis, evoking the wild and fantastical creations of surrealist masters such as Salvador Dalí. Born to Greek immigrants and raised primarily in Lake Placid, New York, Iakovidis has practiced a series of arts, including dance, theater, and creative writing. Informed by her European travels, these pursuits influence her current work, vividly executed in oil on canvas and, at times, mixed media.
Through her art, Iakovidis strives to narrate stories, yet these tales demand that viewers meditate upon the “nuances and symbols of each piece,” that they “analyze the world within the given context” of each individual work. It is Iakovidis’s hope that her creations provide “a common ground that allows [viewers] to feel safe . . . so that they can perceive, receive, reflect, and potentially make a change in their lives.” A self-taught artist, Andreanna C. Iakovidis currently works and resides in Los Angeles, California |
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"The Great Unravel"
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"The Moral Struggle of the Culturally Defined Everyman"
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John Nieman
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Mixing realism and textual art, John Nieman's canvases and prints are visual and narrative riffs on love and luck, forgiveness and acceptance, as well as the wisdom, or lack thereof, of the figures which make up our mass culture. For him, the canvas is a stage for him to share his observations on politics, sports, music, and American popular culture; the result is a clever reminder of who are as a nation.
Equally at home painting in the warm browns of wood and leather as he is rendering the bright colors of swimming pools, cloudless skies and consumer packaging, John at times offers "visual riddles," a combination of buzzwords or textual themes which match the image rendered as if captured in a snapshot. He is concerned with the things which tie us all together, the culture we all share. Above all, John Nieman's work expresses a generosity towards human frailty, and these works, with their warmth and humor--and the occasional candy bar--are inviting as well as provocative.
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"Fifth Avenue"
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"Outstanding Kisses"
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Ed Porzio
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Somewhere between the worlds of art and architecture, Ed Porzio resides. Original and innovative, his works surprise the eye, catching it off guard with tweaks and quirks, imperfections that make each piece real and imbibe it with that indescribable life that marks art. Ed found his joy in art whilst still in the first grade, yet put it aside for much of his life. In adulthood, he slowly rediscovered that boy in the first grade. Ed has claim to a natural talent, an ability to instinctively know where lines should flow, where the canvas calls to be blank, where order must meet the wildness of expression. Originally trained in architecture, Ed now brings this approach to more fluid subjects. He works in a range of mediums and styles, constantly exploring the unexpected.
Structure tames chaos and sets it free in Ed's pieces, charming the eye with their often humorous and playful undertones, and eliciting a smile in the heart of the viewer. |
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"White Chicken Running"
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"Roy"
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