August 8 – September 4, 2019

On the Surface: A Ceramics Show
Olivia Beens, Linda Casbon, Kathy Erteman, Susan Lisbin, Elaine Lorenz, Kate Missett, Syma

SkinOnSkin: Barbara Herzfeld

On the Wall: Sue Koch

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 8th from 6 – 8 PM

Carter Burden Gallery presents three new exhibitions: On the Surface: A Ceramics Show in the East Gallery featuring seven ceramic artists; SkinOnSkin featuring Barbara Herzfeld; and On the Wall featuring Sue Koch. The reception will be held August 8th, 2019 from 6 - 8 p.m. The exhibition runs from August 8th through September 4th, at 548 West 28th Street in New York City. The gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

On the Surface: A Ceramics Show

On the Surface: A Ceramics Show features seven artists’ work that range from representational to geometric abstraction, monochromatic to bright and vivid, all illustrating the broad possibilities of clay. The spectrum of the artists’ inspiration ranges from ecology, human relationships, environmental conservation, minimalism in form, to spirituality. Artists include Olivia Beens, Linda Casbon, Kathy Erteman, Susan Lisbin, Elaine Lorenz,Kate Missett, and Syma.

Linda Casbon’s work is generally large-scale handbuilt sculpture; in the exhibition she presents both a wall piece entitled Blanket and a towering freestanding sculpture Column. She states, “My work translates forms into a language of metaphoric associations. It hints at meanings without using literal descriptions.” Kate Missett’s ceramic sculptures are part of her ongoing series of canopic jars, where the top segments of the sculpture are animals, while the bottom portions are open vessels on which the animals rest. Missett’s canopic jars explore contemporary issues of human and animal relationships to nature, such as the piece Polar Bear that addresses climate change and oil drilling. Also inspired by nature yet with a different outcome is Kathy Erteman’s abstract wall works. She explains, ”Nature and its innate perfect design inform my work where ever I am, and provide me with a vast library of surface and form inspiration.”

Barbara Herzfeld

SkinOnSkin presents primarily watercolor paintings by Barbara Herzfeld in her first exhibition with Carter Burden Gallery. The pieces depict Sumo Wrestlers in surreal color and pattern in the midst of action, a slew of motion and energy. Their grand almost naked, save for a Mawashi, bodies are an amalgam of beauty and aggression. Herzfeld describes, “I loved the skin on skin closeness of these large nearly naked opponents captured in what might also be perceived as an embrace with facial expressions that could be either amorous or fierce.” This contrast of intimacy and aggression in the figures is also exemplified in the smaller acrylic pieces featured in the exhibition with depictions of the wrestlers affectionately curled up with or leaning on large animals.

Barbara Herzfeld is a watercolor artist who attended Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri where she received a BFA. She was a textile designer for twenty years during which time she developed her color sense and facility with a brush. In recent years she has worked in education and now teaches art to a range of young students. Herzfeld has been in solo and group shows at Brandeis University, Harvard University, and Brooklyn and Manhattan galleries. She was a finalist for a grant from The Massachusetts Council On The Arts.

Sue Koch

In her installation for On the Wall, artist Sue Koch has created a stitched linen work entitled Kame San no Shukufuku (Blessing of the Turtle) that spans over twelve feet and ties into her interest in structure, architecture, and textiles with modest materials. Deeply influenced by Japanese aesthetics and culture, Koch states, “The lacings on board evolved to lacing with jute on linen with silkscreened organic forms — the life of deeply conscious sea creatures are evoked or perhaps what is way beyond — the seven new planets.”

Artist and graphic designer, Sue Koch was raised in Connecticut where her father was a topographer, which greatly inspired her career. Koch spent over twenty-five years as the Graphic Design Manager at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). Sue Koch studied Fine Art at Skidmore College, and earned an M.A. from Columbia University, Teachers College. Her thesis, Design and Play, a Series of Projects provided the impetus for current work. Since leaving the MET in 2014, Koch has been practicing as an independent design consultant providing creative direction, strategy, graphic design, and project management, as well as being a dedicated visual artist. 

Installation Views