Imago Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is featuring photographic abstractions created by IFA exhibiting artist Howard Rotblat-Walker along with the artwork of guest artists Ed McAloon and Hayley Perry and other IFA exhibiting artists July 18 – August 25 at Imago Gallery, 36 Market Street, Warren, Rhode Island.

A public reception for all the artists will be held on Saturday, July 27, from 5 to 8 p.m. with musical accompaniment by Cathy Clasper Torch.

Rotblat-Walker’s work in this exhibition is a continuation of a series that was stimulated by his seeing M.C. Escher’s Circle Limit III at Boston’s MFA at the time that he was creating kaleidoscopic iterations. He started researching into Escher’s approach and uncovered a body of mathematical papers and discussion on the underlying non-Euclidian geometry which Escher employed.

He says, “The pieces in this series show my own exploration using non-Euclidian patterns developed with the underlying template of an array of Poincaré disks along the lines of Escher’s Circle Limit series. My intent, however, is making interesting and appealing designs via transformations of the section of my photo which I have selected rather than being rigorously mathematical.

Rotblat-Walker will give a public talk on his work on Thursday, August 1, at 6:30 p.m. at the gallery during which he will describe the evolution of his “iterated image,” photo-based digital compositions to what’s on display in the gallery. He plans to provide insight into his progression from initially playing with reflections through straight-forward kaleidoscopic compositions and advanced geometric transformations to the exhibited work using non-Euclidian shapes. His emphasis will be on his artistic process rather than on the Photoshop techniques.

McAloon, a mixed media visual artist and a collector of found materials, will be showcasing examples his sculptural work. He says, “There is no simple explanation for what drives me to create my sculptures. I sometimes react to things that create anguish or joy. Often an assemblage of actual objects can present my opinion. This presentation may be serious or humorous. Often life size objects are used.”

A mainly self-taught artist who lives and works in Warren, McAloon obtained a certificate in Interior Design from the Rhode Island School Design and attended classes in glass and metal fabrication. He has created work in stained glass as well fused glass which is integrated into sculpture and jewelry. He also fabricates outdoor and public art in steel with recycled and found materials.
Perry, a painter and fiber artist, creates her work in a studio at the 30 Cutler Street mill building in Warren, RI. For this exhibit, she will be showing paintings created with layered water media—watercolor, gouache, and acrylic paint—where color, shape, and light blend together to convey emotions and experiences. She says, “I aim to transport observers to landscapes both real and imagined, where the boundaries between the tangible and the ethereal blur.”

Hayley studied undergraduate painting at Montserrat College of Art and graduate painting at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Upon graduating in 2011, Hayley started her small fiber arts business called Loop by Loop Studio. Hayley has exhibited nationally with her fiber and painting work.

IFA exhibiting artists who will be participating in this group exhibit include Bill Chisholm, David Clarke, Eileen Siobhan Collins, Mary Dondero, Stephen Fisher, Philip Gruppuso, Gary Heise, Carl Keitner, Lisa Lowenstein, Eileen Mayhew, Linda Megathlin, Catherine Moylan, Rina Naik, Mercedes Nuñez, Anne Marie Rossi, Duff Schweninger, Lenny Rumpler, Howard Windham and Meredith Wolf.

Regular hours at Imago Gallery for the exhibit are Thursday 12-3, Friday and Saturday noon to 6 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

IFA is a non-profit organization run by artists for artists whose mission is to inspire creativity and promote art-making that enriches our communities.