CAMDEN — “Resolute” will open at Carver Hill Gallery, 36 Bay View Street in Camden, for the Third Thursday Camden Art Walk on June 20, 2024, with a reception from 5 - 7 p.m. The public is invited and refreshments will be served.

This show features four women artists who forged their way to a career in painting by traveling the world looking at and studying art and culture, pushing against stereotypes, refusing to pander to any particular audience, and at times struggling to stay true to themselves and their craft. Through grit and determination, their voices emerged, and observation of their inner and outer worlds manifested in collective, cohesive bodies of work.

Born into three generations of German artists, Anne Hebebrand’s paintings are anchored in the tradition of the German Expressionists. Hebebrand’s approach to artmaking is inspired by Paul Klee’s description of drawing as a “line going for a walk” celebrating color, movement, spontaneity and an element of magic. Hebebrand’s paintings are not just variations on a theme, but more like a conversation with one painting giving dialog to another.

“Through experimentation and improvisation, her process is supported by both a keen understanding of her materials and a deep knowledge of artists who have preceded her,” said Carver Hill Gallery, in a news release.

A recipient of the Dana Pond Painting Award, Hebebrand received her BFA from Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University after moving to the United States in 1978. She received her master's in art history in 1992. Anne will be present to meet you and answer questions.

Carol Gove works out of her Santa Fe, New Mexico studio as an abstract mixed media collage artist. "I enjoy giving new life to older materials, leaving only a fragment of their original state. I also enjoy combining those materials with photographs from my current, daily life. I strive to create dialogue and play between the collage materials and photographs and the fluidity and opacity of paint. Remnants of recognizable imagery appear and disappear in my work, as the materials are washed and worn by layers of paint. I do not hold back when using color in my work. I love how each hue evokes a different feeling or message and how the colors and gestures work together to complete the expression." Gove will be present to meet you and answer questions.

The backbone of Rose Umerlik's studio practice is based on a strong work ethic and dedication to being present and honest with her work. "From the beginning of each piece, I lay down shapes, lines and bodies of color. As I manipulate these elements, I intuitively recognize how the correlation of these elements mirrors my interpersonal relationships. As I move through moments of personal recognition, these moments influence the formulation of the composition. I engage in an extended series of decisions and revisions; tensions undulate on the painted surface, layers of lines, pigments, and shapes are laid down, cleared, and then selectively restored. When a painting is realized conclusively, the surface is necessarily multifarious, the reworked layers reflect my ongoing struggle to accept my history, my present, and to be hopeful of the future." Rose Umerlik received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing arts, with strong influences from Stephen Zaima who impressed upon her the importance of one’s ability to self-evaluate, and the "work method". 

Christina Thwaites grew up in rural England but passionately and regularly explored Europe in search of creative inspiration. "My work explores what I can immediately access – I am context dependent and having moved home and country a lot, my practice has been a means of connecting myself to location and people. I often work with historic photographs, making fast and spontaneous drawings before painting. Painting is like a conversation – there is a back and forth with it, a flow, and I don’t know what will be said until it happens. What is left to interpretation, what is not said explicitly, is the most important part of the painting. I am process led and very physical, putting my whole body into the work - constantly challenging the materials to test what they can and cannot do. A painting is ‘finished’ when there is a balance between poetry, tension and ambiguity – both in terms of subject matter and stylistic balance." Thwaites has run art workshops and community projects and has exhibited and lived all over the world. In Italy she ran an international art residency program near Rome. In Palestine she ran workshops in a refugee camp. She lived in a communal artist house in Amsterdam and in a remote village in Indonesia. In Canberra (Australia) she worked with ANCA (Australian National Capital Artists) whilst continuing to exhibit in Europe with solo shows in London and Rome and a joint show with British Pop artist Peter Blake.

“Please join us for this compelling show of works by four highly skilled painters from Maine, Trieste-Italy, Vermont and New Mexico,” said the release.