If you are a native New Jerseyan, or even a new resident, you may recognize familiar vistas and roadways of this state at the Plainsboro Public Library’s upcoming gallery exhibition by artist Elizabeth Aubrey, a West Windsor native.
“Soul Scapes” is a collection of Aubrey’s New Jersey-inspired landscapes, which are based on both her memories and present-day scenes. The exhibition runs from Saturday, Dec. 3 to Wednesday, Jan. 4.
Aubrey will talk about her creative process at a reception on on Sunday, December 4, from 2 to 4 p.m. Aubrey, who grew up in West Windsor and was the daughter of the late Malcolm Roszel (a township mayor), currently lives in Hamilton and is the wife of Dan Aubrey, arts editor of the News’ sister paper U.S. 1.
A press release issued by the Plainsboro Library said that Aubrey, “combines objective and abstract imagery to evoke the changing landscapes of New Jersey by using a combination of images from childhood memories of open spaces she experienced while growing up in rural New Jersey, and often integrates them with imagery from urban images found in the New Jersey landscape that has evolved in recent years.”
Most of Aubrey’s works are combinations of drawings, photographs, stories and observations, and all of the works are acrylic on canvas. She said he artistic process starts by first creating black and white sketches done from various locations in New Jersey. The black and white sketches are reworked using markers, color pencils and pastels. After creating a series of studies, a final image is created and transformed onto canvas. Many studies are created before a concept is final.
In 2015, Aubrey curated several shows in New Jersey and New York City, including Trenton Style at Prince Street Gallery, Mercer County Community College and Plainsboro Library. In 2016, she curated TAWA Invitational at Lake Side Gallery in RWJ Hospital Hamilton.
Her recent exhibitions include the 2013 Mercer County Artists, the 2012 Trenton Makes exhibitions at the Prince Street Gallery in New York City and Trenton City Museum, and the 2012 Artists of Yardley Annual Juried Show in Pennsylvania—for which she received Best in Show.
Her work has also been included in the Realism/Surrealism exhibition that included artists Clarence Carter, Hughie-Lee Smith, Mel Leipzig and Bernarda Bryson Shahn; the Trenton Artists Workshop Association’s Soviet Exchange exhibition in Moscow; group shows at the N.J. State Museum, Nabisco Gallery, Muse Gallery and New Arts Gallery in Philadelphia; and a four-women show at Mercer County Community College.
She studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, University of Colorado, and Mercer County Community College with Mel Leipzig.
For more information on the exhibition, call (609) 275-2897.
