Brian Willsher

Beginnings Abstract

1988

Abstract expressionist assemblage with found objects typical of an artist's studio floor by Bay Area artist Michael Pauker (American, b. 1957). Applied paint brushes, caps and tubes of paint, a few letters, putty knife, with splashes of color on wood. Unsigned. From the collection of the artist's work. Unframed. Image size: 11.25"H x 25.75"W Bay Area artist and art educator Michael Pauker was born in New York in 1957 and knew he wanted to be an artist from the age of 15. He earned a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts at SUNY Purchase in his native state of New York. In 1989 he went on to earn an M.F.A at Mills College in Oakland and was awarded the City of Oakland Artist Fellowship in Painting. He has been a Bay Area resident since 1988. His work has been exhibited widely across the U.S., as well as in Japan and Costa Rica, and is included in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Exhibitions include: 2007 Contemporary Art Museum, San Jose, Costa Rica 2007 “The Ebay Art Project,” Works/San Jose, San Jose, CA 2003 “Found Imagery: The Art of Collage,” Fresno Art Museum,Fresno, CA 2003 “Cut, Copy, Paste,” De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA 2003 “20th Annual Exhibition,” Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA 2002 “40 by 40...

Abstract expressionist oil painting with assembled objects by Bay Area artist Michael Pauker (American, b. 1957). Black and bright red expressive brushstrokes are layered with glass ...

"Synopsis" by Elsbeth Halvorsen Vever (American, b. 1929). Box sculpture combines aluminum, sand, bone, glass and a magnifier. Signed "Elsbeth Vever 1982" on verso. Image, 24.50"L x 13.75"H x 4"W. Using bone as the central image Elsbeth has assembled an optical and visual experience. One view is the magnification and juxtaposition of the floating effect of the curvature in the stainless steel background; stand back and it's a hologram effect. The first image shows clearly the hologram effect available to the eye of the viewer. From a review of her show of box constructions in Providence, Rhode Island: "Viewing her box constructions is a lot like a walk in the moonlight. What we know, or think, to be true in the hard brightness of daytime reality dissolves into an amorphous space of multiple possibilities and perspectives." Born in Purdys, New York, Elspeth Halvorsen is the daughter, granddaughter, and mother of professional artists. She has studied at prestigious academic and artistic institutions includingthe New School for Social Research, the Art Students League, and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. In 1955, she moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts, establishing her home and studio in the former residence of Mark Rothko. Provincetown not only remains her home but also acts as a personal, social, and artistic source of inspiration for her work. Shortly after arriving in Provincetown, Halvorsen and her husband, the late Tony Vevers...

Abstract expressionist oil painting with assembled objects by Bay Area artist Michael Pauker (American, b. 1957). Against a gold background, the artist has attached several objects, ...

Organic abstract sculpture by G. Krueger. The Serpentine stone has gorgeous earth-toned green, yellow, and orange hues, sculpted into a flowing shape in the style of Herman Miller Sc...

Abstract expressionist oil painting with assembled objects by Bay Area artist Michael Pauker (American, b. 1957). Unsigned, but was acquired with a collection of his work. Unframed. ...

Artwork made with pigment (Iwaenogu), glue & water on cotton paper (Washi) marouflaged on Japanese wooden panel

Nevelson’s compositions explore the relational possibilities of sculpture and space, summing up the objectification of the external world into a personal landscape. Although her prac...

Jim Miller-Melberg (1929 - 2017) was a mid-century industrial designer and sculptor known for his ubiquitous playground sculptures. Jim studied at the University of Michigan, Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills...

"The Lady'' is an edition of wooden sculptures by Paul Braslow. This sculpture is hand-signed. He was an American sculptor and artist that established himself in the medium of figura...

The freestanding sculptures in this portfolio are made from the “sticks”: a pile of found wood that Sweibel has been pulling from to make new works since about 2002. The pile consisted of more than a dozen four- to seven-foot lengths of hardwood, each an uneven inch in depth and width. The sticks were warped, with worn yellow paint on one side and raw wood on the other three. Over the years she has painted the raw sides of the sticks, cut the wood into shorter lengths, and sliced paint off – and kept the residue from these actions. Sweibel has also made sculptures ranging from full-length sticks to tiny stick splinters. She built these sculptures using sliced-off paint. Timeworn materials and objects have an intelligence that the artist looks for and listens to. Shaping and reshaping material to find new form and elicit new insights in the material itself is the territory she is mining. The limitations of the process are its strengths. Her work is concerned with fragility, precariousness, adaptability, and strength. It is a visual response to powerful yet unseen forces - like wind and thoughts - that threaten, propel, ruin, and protect. Liz Sweibel is a multidisciplinary artist working in drawing, sculpture, installation, and digital photography and video. Her spare, personal language of abstraction transforms ordinary materials into statements about connectedness and responsibility: every action has an impact, the effects persist in space and over time, and we are accountable. By drawing attention to simple, ordinary “stuff of life” and referencing both shared and personal history, Sweibel’s work explores and reflects back fundamental experiences in response to our world and relationships. Her intention is to reinvigorate viewers’ awareness of the everyday – in its raw beauty and precariousness – in hopes that they might bring heightened senses of sight and care to their daily lives. Sweibel has participated in solo, two-person, and group exhibits in New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Michigan, and Tennessee since 1998. In 2016, Sweibel’s work was in the group shows Lightly Structured at Sculpture Space NYC, Precarious Constructs at the Venus Knitting Art...

The freestanding sculptures in this portfolio are made from the “sticks”: a pile of found wood that Sweibel has been pulling from to make new works since about 2002. The pile consisted of more than a dozen four- to seven-foot lengths of hardwood, each an uneven inch in depth and width. The sticks were warped, with worn yellow paint on one side and raw wood on the other three. Over the years she has painted the raw sides of the sticks, cut the wood into shorter lengths, and sliced paint off – and kept the residue from these actions. Sweibel has also made sculptures ranging from full-length sticks to tiny stick splinters. She built these sculptures using sliced-off paint. Timeworn materials and objects have an intelligence that the artist looks for and listens to. Shaping and reshaping material to find new form and elicit new insights in the material itself is the territory she is mining. The limitations of the process are its strengths. Her work is concerned with fragility, precariousness, adaptability, and strength. It is a visual response to powerful yet unseen forces - like wind and thoughts - that threaten, propel, ruin, and protect. Liz Sweibel is a multidisciplinary artist working in drawing, sculpture, installation, and digital photography and video. Her spare, personal language of abstraction transforms ordinary materials into statements about connectedness and responsibility: every action has an impact, the effects persist in space and over time, and we are accountable. By drawing attention to simple, ordinary “stuff of life” and referencing both shared and personal history, Sweibel’s work explores and reflects back fundamental experiences in response to our world and relationships. Her intention is to reinvigorate viewers’ awareness of the everyday – in its raw beauty and precariousness – in hopes that they might bring heightened senses of sight and care to their daily lives. Sweibel has participated in solo, two-person, and group exhibits in New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Michigan, and Tennessee since 1998. In 2016, Sweibel’s work was in the group shows Lightly Structured at Sculpture Space NYC, Precarious Constructs at the Venus Knitting Art...