E. Francisca Dekker “The Kiss” Acrylic on canvas, 48″ x 36″

“Go With the Flow: Contemporary Art with E. Francisca Dekker and Karen Paden Crouch” is a new exhibit playfully pairing two contemporary artists with painting and sculpture. Both of these Wilmington based artists design work that evolve fluently through the creative process.

Join us for the opening reception, Friday,  May 10th, from 6-9pm.   Visit with our artists and enjoy refreshments with live music by guitarist, Roger Davis. The exhibit continues through June 9, 2019.

The paintings and drawings, in acrylics, watercolor and inks, by E. Francisca Dekker, are a direct reflection of the experience she is having. What inspires her is simply nature, listening to music and see someone being quiet or people in motion or dance. Subjects are everyday people and life-models and as a self-taught artist and native to The Netherlands, there are no boundaries and judgments, just the freedom to express herself in gestural lines, motion and colors. Her ever evolving style in fluent movements – sometimes whimsical and abstract – with contrasting lines and choice in colors is often symbolic, vibrant and bold to deepen the sense in motion in body, heart and soul.

Karen Paden Crouch creates sculpture because she must. It is her passion, and every day that she is allowed to make something, it is an unexpected blessing.  Karen’s metal sculptures are grounded in the structure and movement of living things. “When I work in bronze, I begin with a flat sheet from which I cut shapes. I heat these shapes with a torch and beat them into contoured pieces which I then weld into the sculpture’s form. Files, various abrasives and chemical patinas give the sculpture its final finish. Although I begin with a vision, the sculpture takes its own direction; if I will listen it will be a better piece. The found metal pieces grow from collected shapes. Sometimes I have an idea; sometimes I just start juxtaposing parts until an image emerges. But I have always lived by instinct and, with assembled pieces, as well as the bronzes, the sculpture will tell me where to go if I am patient and listen.”