A subtitle for “Aligned,” Gray Loft Gallery’s exhibition of the work of six local women artists, might be “Fluidity.” The show in the third-floor space on Ford Street in Oakland’s Jingletown neighborhood continues through Nov. 8. The featured artists include Kim Cardoso with encaustic paintings; abstract paintings by Valerie Corvin; photographer Lisa Levine’s digital landscapes; the photography of Anne Rabe; mixed-media paintings by Dee Tivenan, and Dobee Snowber’s textured paintings and mixed-media collage.

The diversity of artistic expression and technical skills is apparent in works that contain universal stories. Regardless of the degree of abstraction, the images suggest things such as a garden run wild, the interior of an ancient cave, glamorous Hollywood posters from the 1940s and more.

A unifying theme that keeps the show from becoming a collection of arrows pointing in different directions is how fluidly each work travels as it connects to the next. Not only do threads weave organically within each artist’s work, a shared exuberance for exploring materials and dogged pursuit of individual voice results in a connected structure.

In an interview, Corvin says she appreciates the gallery for its commitment to presenting local artists. “The art in our show isn’t necessarily political, but it represents connection to ourselves as individuals, and also to community,” she says. “We’re all looking for through-lines. We’re aligned in a quest to support each other. Art-making is about growth, personal explorations, digging deep to communicate.”

Corvin admits to concern about the number of Bay Area galleries closing or experimenting with existing only online. “[A]rt needs to speak to people in-person,” she says. “You have to stand in front of a piece and see what feelings wash over you. You won’t get that from a flat-screen image.”

In a separate interview, Levine offers her perspective. “I’ve been working in the Jingletown neighborhood for more than 30 years. In the old days, there was a vibrant community of people working at home. In the last 15 years, there’s more residential property and less people involved in creative pursuits. What keeps me making art is a drive. I tell my students, ‘If you wait for inspiration, you’ll make only two or three pieces of art your whole life,’” she says.

Most of Levine’s digital landscapes and portraits begin with found photographs. She often finds them at thrift stores or in photo albums of friends and family members. “I step into that space that once was between the subject and the photographer,” she says. “Portraiture is about seeing someone, being seen, falling in love for 1/125th of a second with a subject.”

The impulse that for decades has caused Levine to pick up a camera and make her own photos comes from the undeniable reality of death. “With a photo, we’re trying to retrieve a moment from the passage of time,” she says. “That’s why photos are more poignant when the person in them is gone. It becomes about the death of the moment. 

“Why do I do it?” she asks. “There’s an Old Native American story about death being a little bird sitting on your shoulder. Every day, it says, ‘not today,’ and you go on. Eventually, it’s silent. We’re aware of death at all times.”

Corvin also thinks about time, using mark-making as a way of noting its passage. Lately, she’s been investigating play and memory. Initial marks made on a canvas have second layers applied—using paint, crayons, pencil or paper collage.

“I find in the process a story that’s all about simplicity, cohesion of push and pull, and fresh marks that interact with underneath marks,” she says. “One work started with bright red and orange layers over which I added layers of paint with shimmer. We’re always affected by memories, so the shimmer refers to ghosts and the interaction of the past and the present.” 

Art, Corvin insists, is an interaction of past and present, a dialogue with self and community. At Gray Loft, art speaks and the people listen.

‘Aligned’ runs through Nov. 8 at Gray Loft Gallery, 2889 Ford St., #32,Oakland. See grayloftgallery.com for hours.