OCCCA, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art
is pleased to present the exhibition LAYERS,
Curated by Andrea Moni
Guest Artists: Jenny Yurshansky & Jon Ng,
With Annie Clavel, Andrea Moni, Becky Black,
Beverly Jacobs, Carolyn Yarnell, Debra
Vodhanel, Gina Genis, Jeffrey Frisch, Rich
Bohn, Robin & Robert Repp, & Tom Lamb
Dates: June 3 - June 24, 2023
Gallery hours: Fridays to Sundays,
noon to 5 p.m.
Opening Reception: Saturday June 3 from 6:00-10:00 pm
About the guest artists
Jenny Yurshansky
“My practice is deeply informed by being a refugee who was born stateless. Through a community
oriented approach to research, I explore the trauma of displacement and interrogate notions of
belonging and otherness within the frames of landscape, historical documents, and social
constructs.
Formally, this manifests as absence, loss, or erasure. My long-term projects are intertwined
narratives that utilize various materials such as cast, slumped, and found glass, charred steel,
MDF manipulated to simulate antique display cases, embroidered textiles, hand-cut paper
silhouettes of plants, laser etched granite, photographic installations, and writing. Developing
these pieces requires intensive investigation through interviews and site visits to share the
nuances of the stories of generations of migrants. My exhibitions revolve around public
engagements and workshops offering the public opportunities to share, discuss, and exchange. I
am a decentered facilitator who fosters connections between participants through somatic, visual,
and written storytelling. These gatherings allow us to get to know one another in a way that
allows us to be humans with nuance and specificity and to see one another through our stories,
discovering the links between personal histories, the arc of socio-political events, and their
impacts on our lives.”
Website: http://www.jennyyurshansky.com/
Jon Ng: “Fighter Series”
“The Figure has always been a subject that engages our senses, our mind, and our spirit. I am
interested in the gesture and pose of a figure, as a means of exploring its character.
In the 'Fighter' paintings, I examine possible traits while visualizing their potential form. Then
develop cues that might suggest a motivation, or an emotion, behind the action.
In the painting process, I typically transfer my drawing to the canvas over a color ground. I like to
use a medium value red with a warm temperature. Over the drawn image on the canvas I will
delineate edges with a thinned out raw umber. After confirming my composition, I will continue
using the raw umber to block out shapes and begin to establish my value ranges. Next, I will use
white to establish the higher end of the value range. From this point I will proceed to glaze in my
colors.
Website: https://www.jonng.net/About the exhibition
The collective art exhibition "LAYERS" explores the concept of layers, and how artists transmit
their unique perspectives by employing a variety of layering techniques such as glazing, collage,
encaustic, assemblage, photomontage, and stacking.
The word “Layer” has often been used to describe a technique used by artists to create depth in
their work. Layering approaches in art-making provide intriguing and distinctive outcomes.
Historically, painters glazed multiple layers of paint on canvas to achieve dimension. In the 1960s,
layer painting became a type of "process" art that developed through the 1970s as abstract, and
later advanced with greater complexities. Today, layering includes materials other than paint. The
result is described as mixed-media, a method that engages more than one material to create a
finished piece.
In “Layers” artist Jon Ng’s emotional portraits demonstrate the classical glazing technique building
depth and interest by layering color glazes. Becky Black produces rich and mysterious paintings
by applying layer upon layer of encaustic paint to a wood canvas. Utilizing torches to blend and
fuse the layers, Becky achieves paintings that contain natural depth with translucent beauty.
Artists Debra Vondhanel, Annie Clavel, and Evalynn Alu add complexity and richness to their
pieces by blending several mediums and textures, progressively building up an image by adding
new components as each coat dries. They paint from their imaginations and emotions, combining
a variety of nuanced colors, a multitude of diverse brush strokes, and alternating textures. The
layers are built up and broken down creating unique effects on the surfaces. Three-dimensional
artists including Rich Bohn, Beverly Jacobs, and Jeffrey Frisch literally build their layered
assemblages to express their points of view, combining wood, clay, and surfaces such as metal to
complete their pieces. For contemporary photographers, layers have become an integral feature
in their work. Layers are used to combine two or more images, separate elements, or apply
changes to one specific layer. At times, the layers can be literal, simply representing a part of a
picture. Environmental photographer Tom Lamb highlights the earth’s natural layers created over
time to create beautiful abstract photographs that champion environmental awareness through
the anomalies of his images. Photographic layers can also be stacked, merged, or defined in order
to create the desired message. Gina Genis’s Convergence series explores the tension between
humanity and nature. She layers images of natural beauty with man-made environments, posing
the question, “What are we willing to destroy in exchange for what will be replaced with?” The
collaborative team of Robert and Robin Repp begin their layering process with slides that were
scanned into digital images, creating a whole new image. The digitized images are then layered
on top of each other with various transparencies and become transformed into a newly imagined
landscape.
The term Layer is not always literal. Symbolically, colors and brushstrokes match the emotions
and feelings at the time of creation. These narratives are represented through vivid colors,
words, and hidden gems sharing elements of the human journey. In the sensitive sculptures by
artist Jenny Yurshansky, layers are utilized to convey notions regarding identity, interpersonal
relationships, as well as societal structures, and social behavior. Her work expresses her family’s
history of displacement and loss.
The pieces presented in this exhibition share elements of the human journey filled with emotions
and life experiences making each work feel familiar and relatable, yet exciting. Looking around
one realizes that everything is made up of layers and it is the layers that make everything …layer
by layer. Clearly stated by Japanese designer, author, and educator Naoto Fukazawa, “Great
design is a multi-layered relationship between human life and its environment”.
Andrea Moni
Jenny Yurshansky
Orange County Center for Contemporary Art
117 N. Sycamore St., Santa Ana, CA 92701 www.occca.org
Begun by artists in 1980 with exhibitions free to the public, OCCCA, the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, is an all-volunteer, artist-run 501(c)3 non-profit gallery located in the heart of Santa Ana Artists Village.
Contact info.occca@gmail.com for further information.
For all the exhibitions of the current year click HERE
Andrea Moni
Jenny Yurshansky