Toti O’Brien and Anne Seltzer have followed very different life paths, and yet they find that they are surprisingly side by side in their inner worlds.
By News Desk
They have shown together in a variety of shows and sales, but this is their first “solo together” exhibition. As their different styles reflect their different lives, “Side by Side” mingles their work in a rich, complex feast of mixed media and painting.
TOTI O’BRIEN says, “I like to work with fragments. I love putting together scraps, leftovers, residuals that come alive, giving birth to new, unexpected landscapes of memory and meaning—just as dreams do. Like dreams, my artworks have no fixed interpretation, they are fond of layers, and they function a bit like charades. They are intimate and personal, but not ‘mine.’ They are intimate with whoever engages them in conversation. They can tell many stories—and they are all true.”
ANNE SELTZER says, “Growing up in the 60s, I was surrounded by my mother’s art, which was modern, but mostly browns, blacks, and creams. Her influence in my painting is evident in form, but the color is surely from her flower gardens all my childhood. It is with immense pleasure I spread the colors on my canvases, and invite the viewer in for a cup of tea or a bit of pomegranate.”
Toti O’Brien is the author of several recent books, including Other Maidens (BlazeVOX, 2020), An Alphabet of Birds (Moonrise Press, 2020), In Her Terms (Cholla Needles, 2021), Pages of a Broken Diary (Pski’s Porch, 2022) and Alter Alter (Elyssar Press, 2022). Her mixed media have been exhibited in group and solo shows, in Europe and the US, since 1995. She created the cover and illustrations for Today in the Forest (Moonrise Press, 2020), featuring Cindy Rinne’s poetry and O’Brien’s ceramic art. Find more about Toti on her website http://totihan.net/index.html and on her Facebook page.facebook.com/toti.obrien
Anne Seltzer is an artist currently working at Art Work Studio in Claremont and Joue Studio in Cambria. She received her BA in Literature at Vanderbilt University, her Graduate Degree of Education at UCSC, and her MFA at Claremont Graduate University. Her paintings are in private collections and may be seen at the Sam Maloof Foundation in Alta Loma. She has published two books of her paintings and accompanying stories : Guess Who’s Comingg to Supper: Imaginary Patron Saints, (Lulu Press 2008), and The Rock People: An Alternative Community, (Lulu Press, 2011) . Find more about Anne on her Facebook page.facebook.com/Artworkstudioclaremont
"Side by Side: Art Exhibition” Dec 16-18 Friday, Saturday: 10-4 Sunday: 10-3 Claremont Heritage's Ginger Elliott Gallery 840 N Indian Hill Blvd Claremont CA 91811
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