From almost every place or time, random objects remain -- artifacts-- that offer a glimpse into human experiences often seemingly disparate from our own. Three formally dissimilar artists, painter Mary Black, photographer Kirk Crippens and book artist Linda Race, respond variously to such artifacts as an impetus for their own artistic journeys, both real and imagined.

Black's dense encaustic pictures are excavations of the subconscious, as she builds layers, then digs back down into them, discovering bits of found objects previously embedded.  For Crippens, his Treasure Island series is a literal hunt amid a visual bounty left abandonned at a decommissioned naval base; ruins of a ghostly community set in the middle of the thriving San Francisco Bay Area metropolis.  Committed to recording this journey without staging or manipulation, his photographs nonetheless evoke an otherworldly illumination and clever, poignant, even humorous juxtapositions of the content-rich objects he encounters.  The magical microcosms Race creates are assembled as secular shrines of objects she encounters in life: a leaf, a toy, or a gift from a loved one.  Set variously within boxes and books, these objects find a new identity and importance, often referencing the artist's personal memories or fantasies.

The artists in the exhibition were selected from other Finalist Awardees of the 2007 Members' Showcase. All Berkeley Art Center Artist Members are encouraged to submit one work of art to this annual winter exhibition.

Mary Black

Kirk Crippens

Linda Race