The Interpreters

Five visual artists working in drawing, painting, sculpture, installation and mixed media are featured from ArtCenter/South Florida Residency Program. Resident artists are committed to experimentation and innovation, seeking artistic and professional development, and are part of and contribute to a dynamic community of local, national and international artists and creative thinkers.

The exhibit highlights works by Babette Herschberger, Luis Garcia-Nerey, Juana Meneses, Laz Ojalde and John Sanchez -- featured artists from the ArtCenter/South Florida Residency Program in Miami.  Their work encompasses drawing, painting, sculpture, installation and mixed media.  Artists in the program are committed to experimentation and innovation while pursuing artistic and professional development.  One of the goals is to contribute to a dynamic community of local, national and international artists and creative thinkers.

 “The Interpreters” brings to viewers an examination of fleeting moments.  Whether through realism or minimalism, reuse or reappropriation, the artists find inspiration from everyday objects and moments. The transformation of the commonplace into a complex intersection of plan and form brings forth something valuable and meaningful.

Luis Garcia-Nerey

My work deals with many subjects. In recent pieces I have been commenting on the abundance of discarded materials and how one can transform something left to waste into something valuable and meaningful. Although the focus on my latest work deals with this subject, my core intentions are always for the viewers to interact with the piece with the purpose of giving them life.

Typically my sculptures are wood based and stand alone. More and more often I try and create pieces in series of 5 or more. Although, for the most part, the works are usually in pairs or on their own. The subject matter varies in most of the pieces yet does not stray to far from my constant artistic philosophies. At times the works lead to full on installations but its the restraint of not taking it forward that interests me about my sculptural work.

“Cacique” by Luis Garcia-Nerey

Babette Herschberger

My work is very much about process. The process is one of action/reaction. My approach is very intuitive; there are no sketches to work from and little predetermined choice of color.

My “Tidbit Series” is a study utilizing informal materials such as found cardboard, product packaging, etc. With a continued focus on minimal composition, process, surface and color, (cues taken from my painting practice), I work to transform the banality of the original materials into a complex intersection of plane and form. Some of the pieces are used as maquettes for much larger works, which aim in every way to become a graphic distillation of my painting practice.

“Stacked Yellow” by Babette Herschberger

Juana Meneses

Large wall installations for the Surveillance series  are comprised of portrait paintings, drawings, and ink drawings directly on the wall. What is nice about the work is that it is conceptually layered as well as visually layered with the use of formal portraits, drawings are put up with magnets, and finally the ink drawing on the wall. 

“Miami Surveillance Series” by Juana Meneses

Laz Ojalde

Object making has always been a natural progression for me as a designer, but not in the traditional sense of the trade. While my work follows the basic principals of design such as function, innovation and production, my current design work incorporates important elements that for a long time were more expected from fine art; self expression, spontaneity and emotional depth.

Design inspiration comes from the love of the everyday object; the mundane, the gimmicky and the refined. The excitement is in reinterpreting them into new forms suitable for small-scale production runs, defined by the principle of reduction and simplicity, while not diminishing the objects initial function.

My work aims to reinforce the dialog that merges Industrial Design with the contemporary Art world, while creating unexpected moments of joy in our daily lives. 

“Breaking Cloud” by Laz Ojalde

John Sanchez

Painting is the way I choose to relate my experiences with the world's.  

A traditional medium that never becomes dated, paint offers me the very idea of being connected to our history; it is in the fabric of our experience with art.  My art is about relating to what we already know through moments of our experiences.  I strive to visualize and make permanent the "here, now, and fleeting" of our lives. Moments spent waiting in our car for a green light on a desolate street late at night, moments where we zip by an industrial complex, moments of waiting for an elevator to arrive on your floor, all intrigue me, it is my way of "stopping to smell the roses"

In trying to capture the fleeting, I paint with as much speed as I can. It is as if I were trying to paint a scene as fast as I experienced it.  Edits are pointless to my work because in its very nature causes me to be too permanent.  It is the result of mixing my ability with the subject/concept that I arrive at a painting, and the unplanned marks and non-marks are every bit as important as the image conscience brush stroke.

My immediate surroundings are what inspire my recent work.   Still being important to me is that our everyday living is what art should reflect.

“Family Outing” by John Sanchez