Music by Jack Barbash, piano, Steve Meyer, bass and Fletcher Andrews, percussion

A pair of artists serves up a bounty of abstract color and texture in February’s VAA Gallery exhibition. Photographer Karen Frank focuses on nature’s transformation of human detritus found on the beach. Painter Ken Susynski’s landscapes are influenced by European land and cityscapes.

Frank’s current series may be loosely categorized as abstract expressionist. The series began when she observed boat parts strewn along her Port Townsend area beach. Using her digital Canon Ti camera, Frank started her scientific, artistic documentation of nature versus technology. She discovered daily changes by photographing objects’ transformations by natural forces, rain, tides and time – rust and seaweed, barnacles and tiny reflective pools of captured sea water. The framed 12” x 18” pieces are printed on archival paper.

“I like low tides. Every time I see these objects they’re different. The look is ephemeral, in the moment. The saturated colors are wonderful.” Primarily self-taught, Frank says her MA in Transforming Spirituality from Seattle University definitely influences her work. “I want people to stop and take a second look,” she adds. Frank’s work has been shown numerous times at Port Townsend’s Northwind Arts Center and other regional galleries. Her next series concentrates on flight: airplanes, landing, light, movement, sound and stimulus.

Susynski grew up in Europe. He says living in places such as Turkey and Germany greatly influenced his artistic approach and shaped his whole life. His education was provided by the architecture and museums of the world.

Susynski’s work compositionally derived from memories and experiences abroad, manifest in mixed media for his Vashon exhibition. He cuts older canvases into shapes and patterns, places them under a layer of acrylic gesso, then fills in with more oil washes, charcoal, ink and sometimes even automotive base paint. Working with palette knives, his fingers or directly from the paint tube, vivid color and strong abstract line characterize Susynski’s paintings.

“This series, Landschaften (German for landscape), is all about reinventing, recycling and reinterpretation,” he says.

Susynski, determined by his parents, earned a degree in economics. He worked as a stockbroker for nearly a decade before settling in Seattle. Now he focuses primarily on his art and works in health care administration at Harborview Medical Center. He is currently represented by Hanson Scott Gallery in Pioneer Square and is preparing for a show in the San Francisco Bay Area later this year.

Vashon Allied Arts
19704 Vashon Hwy SW Vashon
206-463-5131
www.vashonalliedarts.org