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ROCHESTER - The Franklin Gallery at RiverStones Custom Framing in Rochester, will host an exhibit during the month of March titled "Twins, Shadows, and Ghosts." It will feature the work of Beth Wittenberg. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, March 2, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and the public is invited to attend. Light refreshments will be served.
Wittenberg is a local contemporary artist who works in a variety of media. In October 2021, she was awarded an artist's residency in Printmaking at The Art Center in Dover. Wittenberg has been printmaking almost exclusively for the past 16 months and she is a member of The Printmaking Studio where she works daily.
Wittenberg has been using mylar stencils to create compositions that are active and lively. These stencils can be used over and over again; however, Wittenberg enjoys creating new stencils daily. She uses stencils to build compositions over many days in the printmaking studio.
Wittenberg is delving into Carl Jung's archetypes, especially the Shadow Archetype. The shadow is an archetype that consists of sex and life instincts. The shadow exists as part of the unconscious mind and is composed of repressed ideas, weaknesses, desires, instincts, and shortcomings.
"The work in this exhibit revolves around the concept of The Shadow Archetype and the notion of Twin Flames," says Wittenberg. "There are a few signs which could point to a twin flame relationship, which I have experienced. Twin Flame is characterized by the sense that you're meeting yourself," she explains, "multiple similarities, sometimes uncanny; deep connection; desire to grow; prioritization of growth over being in a relationship."
While Wittenberg has been considering these ideas as a starting point for the artwork she does not have any particular dogma in mind when creating her artwork. She leaves the critics outside the studio and explores her iconography to create a new lexicon. Wittenberg says the artwork is cathartic and prophetic at the same time.
Wittenberg received her MFA at The Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1989. She has been exhibiting as a professional artist for 35 years. Her work has been exhibited in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Recently her painting was chosen to be included in a coffee table book titled Ten Piscataqua Painters, which was released in 2021. Wittenberg is fond of collaboration and has an open invitation to artists on the Seacoast who are interested to please contact her. Wittenberg lives with her wife and their three rescue dogs in Rochester.
RiverStones Custom Framing and the Franklin Gallery are located at 33 N. Main Street and open Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The public is encouraged to drop by during regular business hours to view Wittenberg's work. For information about this exhibit and other RiverStones events and services, call (603) 812-1488, or send an e-mail to riverstonescustomframing@gmail.com.
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