Black & White

Our seventh Art competition “Black & White” started in December 2022 and concluded on January 19, 2023. Art Room Gallery received entries from many countries around the world: USA, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, China, Germany, France, Australia, Belgium and New Zealand. The Black & White theme theme in this competition included a diversity in types, styles and mediums (oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, ink, scratchboard, pencil, digital painting, photography). The following evaluation criteria has been used for judging the artwork: creativity, interpretation of the theme, originality and quality of art, overall design, demonstration of artistic ability, and usage of medium. Jury decided to select 85 artworks for inclusion in the exhibition. Aside from First, Second, and Third place Jury also presented Merit awards and Honorable Mention awards.

Thank you, and enjoy the exhibition!

Statement:

With virtually no formal art training, Dan has been drawing since childhood. His internationally award winning work has been exhibited in gallery shows in Palm Springs, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Ana, Pasadena, Long Beach, New York, and West Hollywood. Dan has also begun cultivating international clients in Canada and as far away as Germany and Malaysia. Recently 23 pieces of his work have been permanently installed in the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, as part of their impressive commercial art collection. Dan’s charcoal drawings have also been published in multiple art magazines & book, both domestically and internationally.

Statement:

I work in concept-based visual images inspired by a combination of direct observation, photo research, dream imagery and physical processes using sound. “Boom” is a painting rendered after a dream image experienced in 2018. Although I do not claim to possess any clairvoyant abilities (this image is pre-Ukrainian war crisis), I have often found strong coincidental visual information contained within the dream state, activated most likely due to the subconscious nature of the sleep process where the visual mind does not fully disengage. Given the fact that this image was experienced in sleep, I still consider it to be a result of direct observation. “Sound Cast #4” uses a chance operation technique where an audio speaker is submerged in a liquefied stone casting mixture. The speaker broadcasts a sound of a repeated spoken word phrase. As the stone casting cures, the vibrations from the speaker sculpts fissures and formations which are enhanced with the addition of carbon and rust particles to the casting mixture. This creates a voiceprint image formed by sound waves. I often use variations of painting-drawing technique where combinations of carbon, charcoal, graphite, oil paint, glue and ink are applied in multiple sequential layers that create richly worked surfaces of subdued monochromatic tonality that balance a thin line between photographic depiction and the work of the hand. These works emphasize dark, atmospheric tonalities that speak to time passage, mortality with a sense of an ephemeral moment and a fleeting impression.

Statement:

Shawna Hinkel is an award-winning photographer from Dallas, Texas. She received her Certification from Professional Photographers of America (PPA) in 2014 and her Master of Photography degree in 2019. Her work has been accepted in the PPA International Photographic Competition Annual Exhibition every year since 2016, with images published in the annual Showcase Collection and Loan Collection books as well. She was the Dallas Professional Photographers Association Photographer of the Year in 2017 and 2018, and was named as one of the Top 10 photographers in Texas in 2020. She also received the American Society of Photographers’ State Elite Award in 2020. She has won a variety of other awards, and has been featured in multiple art gallery exhibitions. There are so many wonderful animals in the world. Some are jovial and funny; some are shy and reserved. It is amazing to watch them interact with each other and observe how much like humans they are. They show a variety of personalities and emotions. Spending the time to get to know them and see their individuality is very rewarding. I hope more people can find a deeper understanding and affection for them. If we spent more effort helping to save them and their environments, what a better world it would be.