Current shows at Triangle Gallery

Triangle Gallery just closed out the exhibition “Ralph Hamill: Watercolors,” but downstairs features two shows, “Three Breaths: Corning, Machowski & Shagas” until June 16 featuring a talk by the artists at 3 p.m. June 8, and Alan Clark’s “Notes to the Muses,” which runs until June 23 with a poetry reading by the artist at 3 p.m. June 22.

ArtWalk on June 7 will open a new show by Mark Little, “Les Fleurs Du Mal.”

Shows change almost weekly, so there is always something new happening. Check trianglegallery8elm.com for the most current shows and information.

Triangle Gallery is at 8 Elm St., Rockland. Spring and summer hours are noon to 5 p.m.Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday or by chance or appointment. For more information, call 593-8300 or go trianglegallery8elm.com or Instagram @trianglegallery8elm.

“Three Breaths: Corning, Machowski & Shagas”

With spring comes the opportunity for new growth and new possibilities. We can again stop, look around, and settle into ourselves. The sculptures and paintings of these three artists have subtleties and complexities that may not be seen at first glance. You might want to stop, take a deep breath, and let the rhythm, energy, form or narrative come to you. 

Helen Corning (1921-2011) painted for over six decades. Her paintings in this show are but a snippet of the collection of exquisite abstractions she left behind. Her belief in the “less is more” approach to art fueled her search for the balance of suggestion. “I strive for elements that ‘suggest’ but do not ‘insist.’ I call the paintings ‘Haiku,’ haiku being a very concise, short poem that has a lot to say.” 

Tony Machowski is a retired architect living in coastal Maine. He now is able to spend more time dedicated to working with another set of tools. In his carvings, his focus is on releasing organic forms within the wood.

Kathryn Shagas is a mixed-media painter exploring the rhythmic energy in nature.  “Drawing from my early training in piano and the interplay between equilibrium and chaos, I let music flow through my body as I combine monotype, paint, drawing media, and collage pieces cut from earlier paintings. I think of these mixed media works as stories hidden in nature’s rhythms, a reminder of connection when there is still time to choose reconciliation and renewal.”

‘Notes to the Muses’ by Alan Clark

This show of Clark’s work celebrates a life of deep reflection, observation, and contemplation. The color, pattern and marks are Clark’s homage to points of time in his life. The show is a bit of a mini retrospective for this “multidisciplinary artist: painter, sculptor, printmaker and poet.” 

Les Fleurs Du Mal (The Flowers of Evil)

“As an avid reader of the New York Times, I was wallowing in worry and dismay,” states exhibition artist Mark Little. “What is evil? What is corruption?I thought of Boudelaire’s LES FLEURS DU MAL. It might not fit perfectly but it got me thinking.What happens in a society when things in their infancy like our own children become foul and corrupted? How and where did this powerfully corrosive behavior emanate?  It would seem we are human, vulnerable, and can be seduced.Apparently, we are more than capable to become evil.

I was glad to conclude this self-imposed project. Fact is, most of the work I make is rather joyful albeit with a touch of melancholy. But then, that’s just me.”