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Paintings by Providence artist Abba Cudney.

Abba Cudney documents specific nostalgic moments in time within interior spaces. Not only the moments themselves, but also the essence. She decides what details are important, and what can be left abstract for the viewer to interpret. Certain objects are represented and have solidity, others are made with quick gestures and loose strokes to give a feeling of intangibility and impermanence. Remnants of underpainting and drawing are visible alongside the representational, as if past and present are meeting.

Abba says, “I want people to experience their own narratives when viewing my paintings. What the objects and spaces mean to me personally can convey an entirely different story or memory for someone else.”

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 2nd, 5-8pm, during Amherst Arts Night Plus.

About Abba Cudney:
Abba was born and raised outside of Chicago. She moved to New Hampshire in 2011 and earned her BFA in Painting and Printmaking at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. She currently resides in Providence, RI, and works and teaches printmaking at the Providence Art Club. She has exhibited in Chicago and Italy, and throughout New England. AbbaCudney.com

How old were you when you created your first artwork?
I don’t really know an exact age, I just know that I have always been creating. I remember one Christmas when I was probably 3 getting an “art table” and to this day has been my favorite gift.

How has your style changed over the years?
For a long time, I was focused on rendering things in a very realistic manner. I found it to be a great learning process and at the time, satisfying. But throughout college I gradually started to find my own voice and create in a way that felt more natural and freeing to me. Now my work has become a sort of hybrid between real and abstract with the intent of creating a dream-like experience.

When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
Art is something that has just always been a part of me. I suppose when I “officially” decided I wanted to pursue art as a career was the end of high school when applying to colleges. I had an interest in many different subjects but I couldn’t escape the idea of going to an art school and dedicating my time to evolving creatively.

Why did you choose your medium?
I have always loved working with paint-the fluidity, vibrancy, and textures that can be created with it. I use both acrylics and oils. The acrylic helps me achieve a drip-like base layer and go in without any restrictions. The oils allow me to bring the space to life with more vibrancy and texture. After my base layer of acrylics and before I go in with oils, I draw the scene and objects with charcoal. Almost 100% of the time I will leave much of the lines. I feel as though the charcoal helps enhance the feeling of impermanence, like one is looking at a fading memory.

What inspires you?
There are two quotes I always go back to. One by Antonio Lopez Garcia: “I want to paint everything that is my life, all of my experiences”. The other by David Hockney: “I paint what I like, when I like, and where I like, with occasional nostalgic journeys”.

When I began on this interior journey, all of the spaces were either of my first college apartment or friend’s apartments. I explored everything in front of me, everything that held a memory and story. My work then evolved to a series of recreating rooms of my childhood home both occupied and empty, acting as a form of therapy almost. My art changes and evolves with the passing of time, all dependent on where I am and how that space holds significance to me.

Where do you work?
I currently have a small studio in my apartment. There are ups and downs to having your studio where you live, but I enjoy being in the comfort of my home and having the option to work late at night.

Which artists do you admire?
Antonio Lopez Garcia, David Hockney, Édouard Vuillard. Many of the artists I am inspired by were a part of The Nabis movement and some considered intimists, painting the everyday contemporary life. Much of their philosophies revolved around the idea of drawing emotion out of these everyday scenes and objects. I think that what connects all of the artists I draw inspiration from is their ability to take what some see as the mundane and create a more intimate story, “a window into the soul”. As far as stylistically, I have always admired the Impressionists and their ability to use paint in such a bold and vivid way, truly bringing life to a painting.

What is your favorite piece that you’ve created?
It usually tends to be whatever I am working on at that time. Every piece is a learning process and holds a form of attachment for me as I am creating it. There is one piece I am quite attached to, though. It was the first interior scene I had ever painted of my first apartment. One day I woke up and looked around our living room and the mess that was created from the night before and just thought “I need to start documenting these moments in time”.

A live art installation by Greenfield artist Cathe Janke.

This interactive exhibit will feature paintings, prints, and a growing installation based on the heart shape, and a continuous story series of paintings. The installation will feature many of the art and craft techniques Cathe learned in India, including silk painting, lost wax casting, stone carving, along with printmaking and painting. She combines her love of color and fabric with recents experiments with drawing, everyday materials, local plants, and found objects, to provoke feelings and experiences of our interdependence with other species and each other.

Cathe says: “It is very important for me to remain aware that artistic inspiration arises unexpectedly from very different sources. I try always to cultivate this awareness and travel continues to be an important part of my artistic experience. I am excited to be able to create an interactive environment here. The rich cultural history of Amherst is preserved in its remarkably diverse community and the potential for inspiration seems unlimited. I look forward to gathering community members at the opening and closing of this show.”

Cathe will be working in the gallery on Wednesdays and Fridays, 12-3pm; more dates will be announced.

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 5th 5-8pm, during Amherst Arts Night Plus. A closing reception follows on Wednesday, July 25th, 6:30-8:30pm.

About Cathe Janke:
Cathe received her MFA in 2D from Massachusetts College of Art. She has been awarded grants and fellowships to Vermont Studio Center, Elsewhere Studios in Colorado, RIACE Festival in Odisha, India, Can Serrat Int’l Art Center in Barcelona, Mustarinda in Finland, Zea Mays Printmaking in Florence, MA, DISC in Odisha, India, and Wingate Studios in New Hampshire. Her work has been exhibited at Brandeis University, San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts in Havana, Lalit Kala Academie in Odisha, India, and A.I.R. Gallery in NYC. She is currently a member at Zea Mays Printmaking and has traveled to India numerous times for art and vipassana meditation practice. cathejanke.com

Image: detail from “See Through”, by Cathe Janke

An exhibition of artworks made by PVPA students during the 2017-2018 school year.

These works explore a diverse array of themes, subjects, materials, and methods; unified by the ambition and vision of these young creatives. Hope & Feathers and PVPA are proud to showcase this selection of emerging valley artists.

Exhibiting students include: Galia Pakman Arrojo, Josephine Boneceto, Brianna Clark, Alex Chase, Emma Demerath, Sarah Edler, Noa Miller, Vivian Mitchell, Analua Alencar Moreira, Leonardo Vance Udell, Alarice Wohlers, Eva Weigand Whittier.

Opening reception: Thursday, May 3rd, 5-8pm, during Amherst Arts Night Plus.

About PVPA:
Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School (PVPA) is a regional public charter school serving 400 students in grades 7-12, from over 60 towns throughout western Massachusetts. Their mission is to offer students intensive exposure to the performing arts within the context of an excellent college preparatory curriculum. The goal of PVPA is to provide students with a supportive and challenging environment that is responsive to multiple learning styles, emphasizes learning through the arts, and integrates creative and critical thinking throughout the curriculum. www.pvpa.org

Image: details from Reading Palms by Emma Demerath, Untitled by Brianna Clark, Light by Noa Miller

Galia Pakman Arrojo
Galia is an 8th grader at PVPA who hopes to further explore the visual arts department in high school. She loves experimenting with new mediums, but is ultimately most comfortable with pen, pencil, paints and doodling all over her math homework. She is very excited to be a part of this showing.

Josephine Boneceto
Josephine is a Sophomore at PVPA currently living in rural Leverett. She tends to work with many different mediums including watercolor, marker, ink, and the occasional magazine clipping or other form of material to spice things up. Josephine hopes to attend MassArt after graduating PVPA in order to continue learning the skills needed to write and illustrate her very own comic that she has been dreaming up and developing for years.

Brianna Clark
Brianna is a 8th grader at PVPA currently living in Holyoke she enjoys kpop and anything. She has had a passion for art since kindergarten. She has one cat and loves BTS she has been a fan since 2012 they are the inspiration for most of her art work.

Alex Chase
Alex is a Junior who resides in Greenfield. Alex has studied a wide range of media working in both 2D and 3 Dimensional mediums through her years at PVPA.

Emma Demerath
Emma is a junior at PVPA who enjoys stand-up comedy specials and painting (usually at the same time). She plans on attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s art program this summer to further her passion for painting. She is very grateful to Hope & Feathers and to her teachers for this amazing experience.

Sarah Edler
Sarah is an aspiring young artist that enjoys drawing various subjects. Regardless if it is a simple sketch or a fully developed painting, she pours her heart into everything she makes. She’s been drawing and painting since she was old enough to hold a pencil and brush and has been working with digital media for the last 3 years. Sarah is in 8th grade and is still exploring where her artwork will lead her in the future.

Noa Greer Miller
Noa is in love with western-mass, luckily, lives there too. She is inspired by the album Blue by Joni Mitchell (perhaps a little too much,) the process of making gumbo, and shampooing loved ones; surprisingly enough, her art tends to stay within the realms of wobbly college campuses, hands, and naked women. She would like to continue making art until she no longer needs to. She thanks her mothers, her teachers, and her friends for everything.

Analua Alencar Moreira
Lua is a 9th grader at PVPA who has been drawing since she first picked up a crayon. She is thrilled to have her work shown in a gallery for the first time! A Belchertown resident, she likes to write and learn about social justice when she isn’t creating works of visual art.

Vivian Mitchell
Vivian is a Junior at PVPA who resides in Amherst, after graduation Vivian hopes to Major in illustration at MassArt in boston. She’s currently most comfortable using graphite, ink, and watercolors, but would like to one day use thick buttery oil paint. Vivian is dedicated to the gay agenda, and according to the pamphlet she received in the mail after coming out to her parents, the first step to corrupting straight capitalism is by making as much queer art as her grubby little gay hands can muster.

Leonardo Vance Udell
Leo is a Sophomore at PVPA who resides in South Hadley, he hopes to attend MassArt after graduation. His favorite medium to work in is watercolor, pen, pencil and marker. Along with art he enjoys writing music and fantastically weird stories. One day Leo hopes to be a professional techie, artist or underpaid barista.

Alarice Wohlers
Ali is an 8th grade student who lives in Granby. Ali has taken numerous visual art and fashion clases in her first 2 years at PVPA and is currently enrolled in the Mixed Media course.

Eva Weigand-Whittier
Eva is a ninth grader at PVPA who lives in Northampton with her mothers, brother, and four cats. She loves drawing with pencil and pastels. She also loves rhubarb pie, and likes to experiment with new types of art.