VIRGINIA BEACH — BOJUart Gallery will present a duo exhibition featuring new works from international fluid acrylic painting artist Shay Amanda Broughton and Virginia Beach ViBe photographer Bob Petersen.
The exhibit started June 7, and runs through Aug. 31.
“Intersection,” explores the artists’ interpretation of the city’s coastal waterways, and the result when those views inter-cross in a collaborative work of art that bridges the lines between the photographer image and abstract application of paint, officials said in a news release.
Through abstract expression, Broughton’s painting explores the depths of human awareness, officials said.
Her fluid process allows her to let go of expectations and connect with intuition in order to express purely from the heart.
She carries the energy of life into her work by adding a small amount of water gathered from a natural water source: river, ocean, stream, pond or lake.
Additionally, she moves the paint with air (an airgun or her breath) and fire (a torch) to add texture.
For “Intersection,” Broughton’s work introduces a new color palette exploration that expresses her connection to the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Beach and North Carolina where she grew up visiting.
“Color is a powerful tool that connects us to our emotions and memories,” she said. “It is more about capturing the feeling than anything else. This coast feels like home and that’s probably one of the best feelings I can find.”
Petersen’s photographic series is a Virginia coastal interpretation of the patterns and repetitive nature of the water and coastal landscape.
He looks to push the potential of photography as a medium, resulting in large-scale work that flirts on the threshold of abstraction and recognition, officials said.
Interacting with those photographs oscillates between discovering them close up as a somewhat abstract and textural view that invites stepping back for perspective, while viewing the work from a distant conversely invites viewers to explore close up the textures and elements that enfold the piece, according to the news release.
The show will exhibit his latest series on the coastal landscape that furthers Petersen’s formal and material consideration of the natural world.
BOJUart donates a portion of each piece sold to the artists’ chosen cause: the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
“Save the Bay™” is a regional rallying cry for pollution reduction throughout the Chesapeake’s six-state, 64,000-square-mile watershed, which is home to more than 18 million people and 3,000 species of plants and animals, BOJUart officials said.
All work exhibited is available for sale at the gallery, online or by phone.
