A subtitle for \u201cAligned,\u201d Gray Loft Gallery\u2019s exhibition of the work of six local women artists, might be \u201cFluidity.\u201d The show in the third-floor space on Ford Street in Oakland\u2019s Jingletown neighborhood continues through Nov. 8. The featured artists include Kim Cardoso with encaustic paintings; abstract paintings by Valerie Corvin; photographer Lisa Levine\u2019s digital landscapes; the photography of Anne Rabe; mixed-media paintings by Dee Tivenan, and Dobee Snowber\u2019s textured paintings and mixed-media collage.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s work, a shared exuberance for exploring materials and dogged pursuit of individual voice results in a connected structure.<\/p>\n
In an interview, Corvin says she appreciates the gallery for its commitment to presenting local artists. \u201cThe art in our show isn\u2019t necessarily political, but it represents connection to ourselves as individuals, and also to community,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re all looking for through-lines. We\u2019re aligned in a quest to support each other. Art-making is about growth, personal explorations, digging deep to communicate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corvin admits to concern about the number of Bay Area galleries closing or experimenting with existing only online. \u201c[A]rt needs to speak to people in-person,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have to stand in front of a piece and see what feelings wash over you. You won\u2019t get that from a flat-screen image.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a separate interview, Levine offers her perspective. \u201cI\u2019ve 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\u2019s more residential property and less people involved in creative pursuits. What keeps me making art is a drive. I tell my students, \u2018If you wait for inspiration, you\u2019ll make only two or three pieces of art your whole life,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Most of Levine\u2019s digital landscapes and portraits begin with found photographs. She often finds them at thrift stores or in photo albums of friends and family members. \u201cI step into that space that once was between the subject and the photographer,\u201d she says. \u201cPortraiture is about seeing someone, being seen, falling in love for 1\/125th of a second with a subject.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. \u201cWith a photo, we\u2019re trying to retrieve a moment from the passage of time,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s why photos are more poignant when the person in them is gone. It becomes about the death of the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do I do it?\u201d she asks. \u201cThere\u2019s an Old Native American story about death being a little bird sitting on your shoulder. Every day, it says, \u2018not today,\u2019 and you go on. Eventually, it\u2019s silent. We\u2019re aware of death at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corvin also thinks about time, using mark-making as a way of noting its passage. Lately, she\u2019s been investigating play and memory. Initial marks made on a canvas have second layers applied\u2014using paint, crayons, pencil or paper collage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find in the process a story that\u2019s all about simplicity, cohesion of push and pull, and fresh marks that interact with underneath marks,\u201d she says. \u201cOne work started with bright red and orange layers over which I added layers of paint with shimmer. We\u2019re always affected by memories, so the shimmer refers to ghosts and the interaction of the past and the present.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n