Y. J. Cho
		SHADOWS OF THE SILK ROAD
		The paintings of shadows from the Silk Road are Y.J. Cho's poetic renditions of a quiescently self-contained 
		universe. Inspired by her recent journey along the ancient trade route, the paintings avoid the typical tourist 
		sites of the Gobi Desert and Dunhuang. Instead, they engage the viewer in fragments of ordinary wall 
		shadows.

		Roofs and shacks, hills and trees, branches and leaves and other sundry objects are the shadowy images 
		projected against vestiges of the past represented in time-worn walls. The shadows, tinged by the interplay 
		of the sun-parched desert air and vapors rising from oasis streams, seem only dimly discernable at one 
		moment like mirages quivering over the desert sand, then emerging, clearly projected the next moment. 
		Y. J. Cho's canvases pulsate with  contrasts: black and white, light and dark, moist and arid, vague and 
		concrete. She uses shadows to construct abstract tableaus of almost calligraphic, beguiling simplicity. 
		Grouped together the paintings narrate a plotless story that reverberates with the rhythms of the Silk Road.
         
		Y. J. Cho

		Vladimir German
		What fascinates me most of all in art is the transformation of any material (dirty pigments when I paint or a 
		piece of wood, metal or stone when I sculpt) into some kind of poetical image.

		Vladimir German, 1998

		Clyde Lynds
		Light is an inherently and obviously beautiful material to work with. Yet, although it has been used by artists 
		for more than fifty years, its great possibilities for expression are only beginning to be felt."

		Clyde Lynds

		John Mackiewicz
		These three-dimensional dioramas function as sort of a stylized mega-reality or an expressionistic illusion 
		of realism. Rather than being based on existing situations, they are composites of fleeting images and 
		impressions distilled and compressed. I find this a more reliable way of capturing the mood of a "generic" 
		slice of life as opposed to working from existing references.

		The basic straight-on view of the piece has to be compositionally pleasing just as a two dimensional work of 
		art. The added bonuses are the additional and perspectives a viewer has as he or she moves about the 
		work and discovers his or her own angles and perceptions.

		The works are made from a variety of materials (plastics, wood, metal, reworked commercial miniature 
		items and found objects).

		There's some stagecraft involved in making these pieces, hallways and alleys that lead off out of sight, 
		buildings in forced perspective, selective compression and most importantly the use of lights to establish a 
		mood. Miniature and full-size lights are used along with a variety of colored gels and diffusing materials.

		All the painting is done to accommodate the lighting. Several types of paints and techniques are used, the 
		overall effect, generally tends to be muted and grayed down which hopefully will draw the viewer into the 
		piece and make him or her a part of it.

		I think the appeal of these works is based on the childhood fascination with small things and imaginary 
		worlds overlaid with the stark matter-of-fact realities of an adult's sensibilities.

		John Mackiewicz, December 2000

		Tom Wesselmann
		Wesselmann's original idea, that began the cut-out works, was to preserve the process and immediacy of 
		his drawings from life, com-plete with the false lines and errors, and realize them in steel. At the same time, 
		he pursued another idea - to make tiny, very fast doodles, which he would then enlarge in cut-out metal, 
		preserving the feel and spontaneity of the tiny sketch.

		After these cut-out drawings are painted by Wesselmann and nailed tight to a white wall, they have a very 
		intense presence, impossible to anticipate without actually seeing them. In black or shades of gray they look 
		like they have been drawn directly on the wall, but at the same time the thickness of the metal makes a vital 
		contribution to the force and presence of the image. Wesselmann described his elation with the first 
		examples, saying it was as if he could pick up a drawing by the lines, remove it from a piece of paper and 
		hang it, unchanged, on the wall. He referred to these cut-outs as steel drawings. 

		The underlying subject matter of these paintings is generally those situations that have held Wesselmann's 
		interest since the fifties - nudes, still lifes and landscapes. From the beginning, his primary interest has been 
		in the form and presentation of the image, which has resulted in constant change and growth in his work.

		The cut-out metal works have allowed Wesselmann to make a quantum leap in the contribution of form to the 
		intensification of the image.
		S. Steelingworth

		Tom Wesselmann