Who are the ones delighting? They include the many beings and moments behind what you see here: a tender fleeting bloom in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden; the raucous energy of intersecting geometries on a New York City street; the arrival of a child who changed my world. It is me reveling in all of that and turning them into artworks – and I am truly delighting in your presence here.
A city kid and lifelong artist, I’ve been immersed in the unpredictable, ceaseless and mysterious creative collaboration of this place. These one-of-a-kind fine art prints aren’t planned out, aren’t reproducible. Like walking the city, I take one step after another to build a complexity of overlapping images of chaos and boundary into a composition that works from all angles. A former layout artist before digital publishing, I draw on the plate with a blade – cutting across the surfaces of wood, metal, plexiglass or mat board to express hidden rhythms and my own inner knowing. Human-made trash – foil, mesh, cardboard and milk cartons – as well as flowers and leaves may find their way into the making.
Working hand-in-hand with skilled master printmakers – Kathy Caraccio, Marina Ancona, Sheila Goloborotko and the late Sheila Marbain – the plate is inked using relief or intaglio techniques. There is always the joy of pulling a print off the press – each one a unique surprise.
I am in constant intimate conversation with this unfathomable city – not only as an artist, but as a social worker who’s been serving New Yorkers in need for decades. Being a social worker is both deeply gratifying and challenging. Art-making is an essential oasis for me – a moment of balance and serenity. I invite you to share in that and perhaps also be one who is delighting.
Opening reception: Thursday March 21, 2024, 5:30–8 pm
Artist talks:
Wednesday April 3, 2024, 12:40 pm
Saturday April 6, 2024, 1–3 pm
Gallery hours:
Thursdays 4-7 pm
Saturdays 1-3 pm
Alumni Room Gallery, Tuohy Hall
245 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
The gallery is free and open to the public.
Directions: Take the G train to Clinton/Washington avenues.
For more information, visit website at sjny.edu/bkcfa or email rcandy@sjny.edu.
@ramonacandy @ramonacandystudio @kathyprint #sjbkcfa