Environmental Effects - Work by Sandrine Colson & George Shaw

"Environmental Effects" - work by Sandrine Colson & George Shaw - October 2 - 23, 2021

Atlantic Works Gallery, 80 Border Street, Boston, MA 02128

Opening Reception: October 9 @ 6-9 pm & Thursday Reception (Meet the artists): October 21 @ 6-9 pm.

There are many ways to interpret what “environmental effects” can be. Most people see the environment as the natural world where all living beings live. In that context, “environmental effects” would refer, in our view, to any influence human would have on the natural world, either beneficial or detrimental. Another way to look at what “environmental effects” refers to is the surrounding or conditions that affects humans as they grow or as they live their life.

In this exhibit, Sandrine Colson is looking at “environmental effects” as being the changes happening in our earth due to human influences. Her pieces are made up of a mix of flowing colors with textural effects using different acrylic pouring and mixed media techniques showing to us how nature (air, water, earth and fire) evolves as humans continues doing their thing affecting their surrounding and the seasons in detrimental ways from the microscopic to the macroscopic. There are three parts in her interpretation of “environmental effects”: “the elements”, “under the sea”, and “the micro-seasons”. Each part and the process that took place in creating each piece or display is described throughout the exhibit. A lover of oceans, she constructed a message to all in my display “under the sea”, informing us how pollution and especially plastic affect us and the oceans.

The natural and built environment are our connection to the underlying reality of existence. Due to our actions, intentional or not, our physical environment is changing in ways that make our very existence, and those connections, problematic. Our collective lives are out of balance. In this show, George Shaw continues and complements Sandrine Colson’s explorations from a different perspective. George's sculpture is a combination of wood panel, paint, glass, metal and found objects.