This special double exhibition at Sweet Lorraine Gallery by artists Katerina Lanfranco and Katherine Keltner is a reflection of our pandemic moment, showing works by two artists in a divided space. Together but alone. The gallery is split along the length of the room with artworks facing each other. This arrangement allows the viewer to view each artist’s body of work singularly while also being able to step back and compare the overall exhibition.
Both artists have found refuge in their art practice during the pandemic, creating immersive worlds that foster connection with the natural world. Most of the works are smaller scale, due to restrictions in access to materials or working conditions, but they also draw the viewer closer allowing for a more personal connection with the artworks. Although there is a common theme to the works, the artist’s methods are strikingly different, further emphasized by the gallery layout.
Lanfranco’s vision is holistic and spiritual, exploring a variety of media including sculpture, paintings with collaged elements, and a mobile displayed prominently at the front of the space. Her works directly reference nature through organic matter embedded in the paint and incorporated as formal design elements. Lotus flowers are featured prominently along with more abstracted blossoming plants. The paintings feel like they are growing outside the boundaries of the canvas with the accumulation of materials and media. Dark backgrounds and the use of metallic spray paint give the paintings an otherworldly feeling, a connection with the universal.
Keltner’s work appears much more controlled, referencing topological maps with colorful swirls of ink looping and pooling across the pages. On closer inspection this is found to be exactly wrong – the grids and elevation markings are actually constructed around the splashes of ink and instead of constraining or measuring the forms they are actually growing from the organic shapes. It makes me think of 3D painting where an object is constructed layer by layer across a matrix. It also brings to mind cellular forms, especially where paint pools around central shapes appearing to coalesce or pull apart. These paintings are alive and vibrant as they explore and push against their own boundaries.
This exhibition compliments both artist’s work, reinforcing the strengths of each through contrast as they acknowledge the wildness of nature and attempts to find their bearings in a strange new world.
Katerina Lanfranco: Nature Poems
Katherine Keltner: Quarantine Meditations
Sweet Lorraine Gallery
183 Lorraine Street, Brooklyn
October 29th – November 30th
Opening reception Tuesday Nov 3rd
Instagram live at 6pm @katherinekeltner and @katerinalanfranco
