Elisa Gallery hosts first exhibit of the year

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One of Riverdale’s only contemporary art galleries now boasts a new exhibit incorporating aspects of nature from three photographers, includin.

Elisa Contemporary Art Gallery at 5622 Mosholu Ave. hosts "Natural Beauty" aphotographic exhibit integrating trees, flowers, leaves and nature’s characteristics.

The exhibit features 15 aluminum and Plexi (photos of artwork printed on a sheet of acrylic plastic), framed works and  photography from Riverdale photographer and resident Rebecca Swanson as well Connecticut photographers Tim Nighswander and Nancy Woodward.

Swanson’s four pieces, created between 2018 and 2020, include limited edition photographs, “In The Tropics II”, “Laced IV” and a duo of photos entitled “Frazel Dazel.” 

“I just love flowers — I’m a flower girl,” Swanson said.

Swanson grew up in Ohio with her mother, who was a gardener and her grandmother, an accomplished china painter.

She went to the Cleveland Institute of Art where she studied drawing, painting, photography and sculpture before moving to New York to become a textile designer after college. Swanson has exhibited her work for 30 years.

Now a Riverdale resident, her favorite places to go in the Bronx for inspiration are Wave Hill Public Garden & Cultural Center and the New York Botanical Garden.

"Swanson “paints’ with her camera, blending the abstract forms of nature with subtle colors to build intimate portraits of perfect, individual blooms,” read a blurb from Elisa Gallery.

“When I started collecting (on a full-time basis) in 2018, I was taking photographs apart and putting them back together, as I was doing with my life,” Swanson added, who lost her husband the year before.

For her process, Swanson takes traditional photographs of flowers, disassembles the photograph and restructures it into a new format.

Swanson has also been on cultural immersion trips, also known as an artist retreats, to locations worldwide including France, Greece, Luxembourg, and Japan.

“Those trips were creative outlets and they were great experiences for me,” Swanson said to The Press.

Swanson said she doesn’t know exactly where each of her works originated because of the extensive process when it comes to working towards completing a new piece and all the steps the process requires.

“These pieces might be from NYBG, but I really don’t know for sure,” Swanson said. “After taking photos apart and putting them back together, it’s hard to remember exactly where they came from.”

Two other featured artists, Nighswander and Woodward, have works displayed depicting visuals of trees and astronomy, as well as flowers and other hints of nature.

“My goal as a photographer is to remain open to seeing beyond the obvious... to be aware of my surroundings: to seek out the unique,” Nighswander said in a submitted quote to The Press.

The Natural Beauty exhibit will run through March 26 and will be closed on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

“I photograph all things magical that I come upon in the natural world,” Woodward said in a submitted quote to The Press. “Bringing my images into the digital darkroom provides the tools to coax out even the faintest of shadows and ethereal landscapes.”.

Elisa Contemporary Art as a business was founded by former Riverdale resident Lisa Cooper in 2007 and she officially opened the Riverdale gallery in 2008. In 2017, Cooper opened an art salon in Fairfield, Connecticut by the same name. Elisa Contemporary Art has curated over 40 public art exhibits in the New York Tri-state area.

“We are dedicated to promoting the appreciation and collection of art as a way to enrich and heal the lives of others,” Cooper said.

“We also believe in the power of giving back — donating a portion of gallery sales to philanthropic organizations that help children and families within underserved communities heal and grow through their experience with art,” Cooper added, whose gallery supports local non-profit organizations Free Arts NY and The Art Therapy Project.

Cooper, who began art collecting in the early 2000s, said her goal is to continue to find art people in the community love and to make people feel comfortable and not overwhelmed by art when visiting an art gallery.

All photos featured in the Natural Beauty exhibit are priced between $1,250 and $3,600.

 

 

Elisa Contemporary Art Gallery, Rebeca Swanson, Natural Beauty, flower, nature, photography

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