Priscilla Snow Algava, an art teacher at West Windsor Arts Council, has a unique exhibit of clay monoprints on view at Plainsboro Public Library. The artist will be on hand to describe the printing process during a reception on Thursday, December 6, from 6 to 8 p.m. The evening event will include classical guitar music by young musician and West Windsor-Plainsboro student Andrew Marfitsin. Light refreshments will be provided. The show runs through Wednesday, January 2.
Clay monoprints are prints that are pulled from a slab of wet clay, using pure color pigments added to clay slip (clay mixed with water). The result is multi-layered and vivid. Note cards, small works by the artist, and works from the exhibition will be for sale.
“Color plays a crucial role in my art,” Algava says in a press release. “Color harmonies that are usually not seen in nature, or have been deliberately altered, sometimes impart the idea of a dreamlike consciousness, of fantasy worlds like those of Chagall, Matisse, and Redon. My aim is to create visual poems that ask the viewer to imagine, to wonder and wander along with me. These many layers of color and texture suggest the breadth of possibilities each day presents.”
An art specialist at South Brunswick High School from 1993 to 2011 and a Princeton resident, Algava has taught art at DePauw University, Marist College, Mercer Community College, and at museums and institutions in the U.S. and abroad. A graduate of Cornell University, she completed her master’s degree at DePauw University.
Algava’s work is represented in corporate and public collections including General Electric, IBM, Vassar College, Newark Public Library, and various private collections in the U.S., Argentina, Greece, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland. Among the awards she has received is a Geraldine Dodge Foundation Artist Fellow Award and Best in Show, Printmaking at Ellarslie Open XXV.
“My work reaches out to my viewers who hopefully will find their own meanings and go forth to live peaceably, be creative, branch out and make connections, and energetically contribute to restoring balance to the world,” says Algava.
Art Exhibit, Plainsboro Public Library, 9 Van Doren Street. 609-275-2897. www.lmxac.org/plainsboro.
There are classes for all ages at West Windsor Arts Council and registration for winter classes is open. Classes for children include Creative Playtime, Kindergarten Art Sampler, Family Creative Movement, Drama for Young Children, and Family Yoga. Teens may choose Digital Photography, Multimedia Drawing, Cartoons and Illustrations, or some of the adult classes. Adult classes include Watercolors, Intro to Printmaking, Oil Painting Studio, and Sports Photography. Visit www.westwindsorartscenter.org or call 609-716-1931 for information.
