Formats Video

Irreplaceable at Workhouse Center for the Arts

Mary Higgins2023-06-07T12:29:32+00:00May 10, 2023|

What I reflect on with regards to climate change is my own naiveté. I began reading about the subject and meeting environmental activists over 30 years ago. My spouse equivalent now husband was working as an environmental activist and introduced me to a number of “big brain” activists who were sounding the alarm. I was naive because I never thought that the planet would be where it is today.

Extreme weather, the loss of ecosystems, the loss of beloved species.

It’s all here. It’s all now.

Sally Kauffman’s paintings can be viewed as beautiful works of art. You can enjoy them solely on the basis of her skill as a painter. I see them as a memorial that may lead to increased awareness of the level of loss. The hope is that awareness leads to action.

Sally’s show at Workhouse Center for the Arts continues through June 11th in the McquireWoods Gallery – W16.

I encourage a visit to the exhibit. Please reach out at info@distinctstudios.com with questions.

Slow Light Series by Chee Keong Kung

Mary Higgins2023-02-24T18:54:33+00:00February 23, 2023|

Mclean based artist, Chee Keong Kung was born and raised in Singapore where the rich diversity of the culture continues to influence the development of his art. His process defined by exploration and experimentation has resulted in an evolving body of work.

Within the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, he has developed a reputation as a painter whose works display a vast sense of light-filled space and dynamism through the use of geometry and mark making. This body of work was just the beginning of his development.

His work has pushed beyond the boundary of the canvas as he moves his paintings off the wall into the three dimensional space. He works in series where he extends an idea through multiple pieces. The Slow Light series are mixed media assemblages that utilize spontaneous mark-making on the surface of the wood with metal being added as a mark in 3D space.

Works from the Slow Light series are available through distinctstudios.com on Chee’s DS artist’s page.

Devotional Icon Series by Theresa Martin

Mary Higgins2023-11-02T19:11:20+00:00February 22, 2023|

Theresa Martin is an artist based in Arlington, Virginia with the ability to create collages with a poignancy that evokes memory as well as mystery.

Her influences include echoes of Jospeh Cornell, Kurt Schwitters, and Lenore Tawney. Using “found” portraits, she creates halos from numbers and symbols and thereby transforms the work into a secular devotional icon.

As a graduate of the Corcoran in the mid-80’s, Theresa has honed her creative skills utilizing a wide range of media. Most recently she has been experimenting with open source AI tools into her work.

The collages in the video are available through distinctstudios.com. You can see the collection of additional available work at her DS Artist’s page.

Thank you for reading!

Video Tour and Website for Joan Dreyer

Mary Higgins2023-02-20T23:46:01+00:00February 20, 2023|

Score explores 20 years of the work of Virginia-based mixed media artist, Joan Dreyer. While developing her MFA thesis at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA, Joan began taking tools, techniques and imagery that have been historically considered “women’s work” and transforming them into innovative, contemporary art that is responsive to the tone and tensions of our times. Created by combining fiber techniques with unexpected materials like X-rays, her work is a subtle art that asks questions about life, loss, symbolism, and the impact of war instead of providing one size fits all answers. The artist’s work provides a space for the contemplation of life stages that we all encounter. The result is a body of work that allows for meaningful but also multiple interpretations by the viewer.

Please visit Joan’s website and plan to see the exhibit.

Slow Light IV on Vimeo

Mary Higgins2022-07-18T21:54:20+00:00July 18, 2022|

Slow Light IV by Chee Keong Kung
Wood, Metal Acrylic, color pencil, spray paint
14.5″ x 9″ x 1.5″

Chee’s work explores the tension between geometry and the gestural mark.

His work is in private, corporate, and institutional collections, including The National Museum Art Gallery of Singapore and The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Slow Light IV and others are available through Distinct Studios Fine Art.

You can see additional videos on Distinct Studios Vimeo profile.

Before, During, After: Art Shaping Resilience

Mary Higgins2022-02-16T20:42:21+00:00February 16, 2022|

Dates: February 14th – March 22, 2021

Angie Newman Johnson Gallery
Episcopal High School
3900 West Braddock Road
Alexandria, VA 22302

For appointments contact Michael Windsor at maw@episcopalhighschool. org

Before, During, After: Art Shaping Resilience showcases the work of nine contemporary visual artists who communicate through art their personal experience of a world that has been altered by concurrent global challenges.

A key objective of this exhibit is to explore how the art object can shape and strengthen resilience. These nine artists create work that communicate universally shared feelings of loss, fear, and illness but also of cultural identity, renewal, and hope. We contend that the creative act itself strengthens an artist’s ability to comeback from difficulties but also that their work can shape resilience in the viewer.

The artists exhibiting in Before, During, After are Adjoa J Burrowes, Gail Shaw-Clemons, Alonzo Davis, Joan Dreyer, Mary Welch Higgins, Sarah J Hull, Akemi Maegawa, Alexandra N Sherman, Elizabeth Vorlicek.

Curated by Mary Welch Higgins

Phronesis by Sarah J. Hull

Mary Higgins2022-02-02T13:10:16+00:00January 17, 2022|

….the moment before the initial thought begins is just as important as the thought itself….

“Phronesis (Ancient Greek: φρόνησῐς, romanized: phrónēsis), translated into English by terms such as prudence, practical virtue and practical wisdom is an ancient Greek word for a type of wisdom or intelligence relevant to practical action. It implies both good judgment and excellence of character and habits, and was a common topic of discussion in ancient Greek philosophy, in ways which are still influential today.”

Wikipedia

Phronesis by Sarah J. HULL

Silk, Cotton, Linen

21 x 13 x 1.25 in

Large cool white embroidered square with a strong diagonal from the top left to the bottom right centered on the top half of a 21” high raw linen caves, above a collection of smaller warm white embroidered squares with a diagonal from the top right to bottom left. The middle square is left blank revealing the embroidery ground.

See additional available work by Sarah on her Artist’s Page.

Ancient Queen Series by Adjoa Burrowes

Mary Higgins2022-01-03T20:26:37+00:00January 3, 2022|

Artist Statement

“This series references the honeybee and its endangered plight in the world. The textured layers recall the hexagon shape of the honey cells. Through my research I’ve learned that the honeybee has appeared as a symbol in cultures throughout the world and through all times. In this ongoing work I aim to draw attention to current environmental concerns and mans’ negative effect on the natural world. “

“Though I was born and raised in the city of Chicago, I have strong connections to the earth including the southern town of Warm Springs, Georgia where my parents were born. My summers as a child were spent in Michigan camping, swimming, picking berries, and playing in sprawling sand dunes. My strong memories in natural environments translate into themes in many of my abstract 2D works on paper.”

Visit Adjoa J. Burrowes page to see additional available work.