Showcasing the diverse material explorations from each of our artists, Hamilton Aguiar, Maria Bouquet, David Datuna, Mark De Muro, Hyewon Hahn, Roderick Hidalgo, William John Kennedy, Peter Wayne Lewis, Monique Rollins, and Ola Rondiak. The aesthetic vision displayed by each artist defines their innate talent and intimate investigations in each of their materials, improvising with color, texture, and line through painting and mixed media.

Learning the art of improvisation often leads to new discoveries affirming present realities. “Making do” or “getting by” offers an expansion of the imagination rather than limit it. To improvise means letting go of restrictions and embracing the extemporaneous. By nature material-centric, artists are known to improvise, experiment, and investigate how the materials at hand convey the mind’s ruminations.

Material Improvisation, like musical notation, is a rhythmic flow of motion and pattern. Through their distinct styles, processes, and materials, this exhibition brings together works by 10 national and international artists whose work embraces observation, process, and metaphor stemming from nature, culture, memory, and pure experimentation.

Hamilton Aguiar uses visual and actual texture to connect optical vibration to shift perceptions of 2-D painting. Maria Bouquet constructs boxes to create encounters with light. David Datuna transports the viewer into a dialectic through the use of prescription lenses. Mark De Muro creates intimate tableaus using coconut shells inspired by shared experience. Hyewon Hahn’s paintings explore line and color blending Pop Art with contemporary sensitivity. Roderick Hidalgo investigates the relationship between a sense of place, memory, and state of play. William John Kennedy’s photos display his enormous talent for understanding subtle play of light and shadow when photographing artists who later became household names. Peter Wayne Lewis creates vibrant paintings through a rich vocabulary of semiotics and exuberant painterly approach. Monique Rollins investigates how the intuitive art-making process can transcend into spiritual realms. Ola Rondiak creates collages based on her family history and contemporary experience.