Abstract Botanica: Works by Lauren Kussro & Rochelle Toner
February 2 – March 31, 2018
This invitational exhibition brings together the unusual forms and inventions that flourish in the outpourings of etchings, drawings, collages of Rochelle Toner, and similarly, in the etchings, screen prints, cut and sewn works of Lauren Kussro. Both create imaginative worlds and forms that seem to grow from streams of impulse and inspiration, from nature, beauty, abundance, and evolutionary change. Toner’s abstractions grow from her mature visual voice, honed throughout a productive career as an educator and artist in Philadelphia. Kussro, working in Houston, is an emerging artist and a new force that explodes the print form and questions the “how and where” printing can happen. Both artists exhibit a graphic instinct and naturally address “why to print” that bridges generations.
Rockie Toner is Professor Emeritus Tyler School of Art/Temple University. She earned her MFA from University of Illinois, Urbana, and BA from University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls. She has exhibited extensively, including A Survey of Contemporary Prints, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC; Colorprint USA, Museu of Texas Tech University, Lubbock; Arte Della Stapa, Grafiche Originali, il Quadrato Di Omega, Rome, Italy. She received the 2010 Printmaker Emertius Award, recognizing her art and career from the Southern Graphics Council International, the largest organization of print artists in the world.
Images by Toner: left: Pegit, drawing. right: Seed Exchange, etching
Lauren Kussro is Assistant Professor at University of Houston Clear Lake. She received her MFA from University of Tennessee, and BFA from Indiana University-Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis.
Recent exhibitions include: Solo show The Reef, at 500x Gallery, Dallas; Metamorphosis, IU Kokomo Art Gallery, Indiana; Atlanta Print Biennial, Kai Llin Art, Atlanta, GA.
Images by Kussro: left: Lush Tangle, intaglio & thread; right: Reef, screenprint, thread, beads