September 15, 2022 – October 30, 2022
Curated by Rebecca Mills
ARTISTS: Sunny Allis, Angelica Bergamini, Claire Buckley, Susan Carr, Joan Di Lieto & Thunderfox, Ala Ebtekar, Gabriel Mills, Sarah Renzi-Sanders, Christina Saj, Chris Watts.
PELHAM ART CENTER, 155 Fifth Ave, Pelham, NY 10803,
The selected group of artists use & depict spirituality, visionary methods, religion, and/or concepts concerning the metaphysical, intangible, or other worldly realms beyond our empirical understanding of reality. These notions are addressed through surrealism, abstraction, religious iconography, meditative work, or even beyond any categorization.
The artists in Ultralight Beam use visual and tangible modes of communicating the spiritual and metaphysical, tapping into the unknown, and perhaps frightening, parts of our human reality and imagination. Ala Ebtekar translates the concepts and physical properties of light emanating from the stars into works of art. Ebtekar leverages the potentials of the cosmos in his art to reflect and empower both outward contemplation and inward vision. A part of artistic growth is testing, while also pushing, the limits of what is readily available to our imaginations; this is how Gabriel Mills approaches the canvas, where he explores the complexities of experience and sensation through a combination of abstraction and figuration. That space of imagination is where artists who are deep in their practice are constantly searching. This is seen in Sarah Renzi-Sander’s surrealist landscapes, as well as in Susan Carr’s sculptures that are created as a devotional act and method of shadow work. Claire Buckley draws from the wellspring of her own emotional state to convey expressive colorful artistic abstraction. Sunny Allis is a trans, non-binary individual whose work explores the human ability to transform and evolve, leading the viewer toward a state of transcendence beyond the physical bodily form.
The work of Angelica Bergamini, Chris Watts, Joan Di Lieto & Thunderfox, and Christina Saj include elements of religious mysticism. The higher dimension these artists depict and draw upon to complete their works is one that we search to understand as the basis for our reality and life on Earth. This search is treated as both an individual endeavor and a collective pursuit of the universal human consciousness.
EVENTS
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 15, 2022, 6:00-8:00pm Free and open to the public.
Santeria Batá Drum Circle with Marcus Kreiger: Sunday, September 18, 2022, 12:00-1:30pm
Join Marcus Kreiger (Marcus World Soul) and fellow percussionists at Pelham Art Center for a performance and demonstration of the Santeria drumming tradition. Free and open to the public.
Cacao Ceremony & Sound Bath with Sage Cacao: Sunday, October 9, 2022, 11:00am-1:00pm
Sage Cacao, a NY-based ceremonial cacao company, will host a full-moon cacao ceremony and sound bath on October 9th inside the Ultralight Beam exhibition. Drink chocolate in its most wholesome, native, 100% pure form–ceremonial cacao offers amazing benefits to the body and mind, opening the heart and energizing the spirit. The ceremony will culminate with a sonic healing bath, with crystal singing bowls providing pure frequencies to soothe the energetic and physical body. Tickets are $44, limited to 20 attendees.
ArtsFest: Ultralight Beam Curator Tour October 22, 2022. 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Free and open to the public.
