“Mirrors of the Mind 3:The Psychotherapist as Artist” Returns for its Third Year!

“Mirrors of the Mind 3:The Psychotherapist as Artist” celebrates its third year. 

Organized by The Los Angeles County Psychological Association (LACPA), the exhibit offers a broad range of media with one unifying theme…psychology.

See image: by Terry Marks-Tarlow

Founders, Terry Marks-Tarlow, Ph.D. and Pamela J. McCrory, Ph.D., have invited a select group of working artists and psychologists to juror the exhibition.

“Mirrors of the Mind 3” will include painting, drawing, photography, textiles, sculpture, ceramics, woodwork and other 3-D pieces created by psychologists/psychotherapists, psychology professors, and psychology graduate students. The event has gained national recognition as a project in which psychologists are using art to beautify, educate and strengthen communities.

See image: Aline LaPierre

Assistant curator and co-chair for LACPA, Pamela J. McCrory, Ph.D., offered some insight on the purpose of the exhibit. “The Mirrors of the Mind event reflects our experience that community education through the arts is a powerful and engaging way to fulfill our mission.  We believe that art is a universal way to make meaning of our experience, to enlarge our world, to create an opportunity for empathy and to celebrate our shared humanity as well as our diverse perspectives. By harnessing the power of creativity and art, we can educate the public about psychology, mental health and well being. Through the study and clinical use of creativity and the arts, psychologists play a central role in revealing the enormous capacity of human potential.  Art provides the viewer with the potential for healing that can help individuals deal with crises and challenges of life.”

See image: by George Gleckler

 McCrory also explained that creativity in one area often helps to inspire creativity in other area. She continued, “To exercise imagination through the arts goes hand in hand with cultivating openness to experience. Both are intrinsically therapeutic and empowering.  When psychotherapists engage in the arts, we “wash the dust of daily life off our souls” and polish our trade. Psychologist photographers hone their capacity to see; sculptors cultivate their capacity to touch; and painters ripen the inner eye of imagination.  A variety of themes may be expressed through in the art, ranging from loss, social protest, parenting, spirituality and reverence in the human connection with nature. Creativity is an essential quality of healthy personal and professional expression and contributes to the development of those with whom we work and to our professional and personal lives.”

Curator of "Mirrors of the Mind 3” and co-chair for LACPA, Terry Marks-Tarlow is also an artist. “As a therapist, I think the arts are important because creativity is everyone's highest level of self-expression. It is not essential to express creativity through the arts, yet many people do. Especially during early development, the arts become a primary form of growth. During later stages of life, they are often a way to find new meaning, especially in the face of losses. At all stages of life, the arts are a way to integrate the imagination with reality. They help people to actualize imagination in a way that works alongside reality, as opposed to retreating into fantasy, which all too often serves as a defense against reality.”

See image: Barbara Shore

“Mirrors of the Mind 3” opens November 1, with an artist reception taking place from 5 pm to 9:30 pm. Robert Carroll M.D., will host a poetry reading from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. There will also be performances throughout the night and a silent art auction. Mirrors of the Mind 1 and 2 Exhibition Art Books will be for sale. Light refreshments will be provided.

There is a $10 admission for the general public and $5 for students and LACPA members. The exhibit will remain open for free for public viewing from November 1 through 8 at the gallery. ArtShare LA is located at 801 E 4th Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90013; (213) 687-4278; See the ArtShare LA website for gallery hours at http://artsharela.org/

To find our more about “Mirrors of the Mind 3,” check out the LACPA website http://www.lapsych.org/

Artist Sona Mirzaei Participates in the Beverly Hills artsHOW this Saturday & Sunday, Oct 18th & 19th!

The Beverly Hills artSHOW revs up for its upcoming event, scheduled on Saturday, October 18, and Sunday, October 19, 2014, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

This will be the 40^th anniversary for the free bi-annual art show. Over 240 artists will participate in the event running along four blocks from Rodeo Drive to Rexford Drive.

See image: by Sona Mirzaei. Mind Blown - 52x66 - mixed media on canvas.

Show manager, Karen McLean has been actively participating in the planning of this event for the past sixteen years. She said she has seen lots of changes. “The type of art at the show has transitioned from a lot of plein air and abstract, very pretty work to art that is urban and/or realistic and/or pop,” said McLean.

“Time Spent in Dreamland” is this year’s theme and artist Sona Mirzaei new pop art pieces work within this realm. “Currently I am working in mixed media, public art projects, pop art, street art, and host of other mediums.” The artist will feature art from her “Mind Blown” series. Mirzaei explained it was created to allow the viewer to experience a Déjà vu sense of familiarity.  She continued, “It also explores multiculturalism, science, and symbolism, as well as humanity.”

Mirzaei is also set to show in New York City with Art for Progress at Noosphere gallery in the Lower East Side ( a non profit based there supporting emerging/mid-level artist throughout the US). Works from  “Mind Blown” series will also be shown at this event.

She will also participate in yet another event taking place the same weekend as the Beverly Hills artSHOW. “Coincidentally, I am currently working on Mind Blown # 3,”…said the artist, “because it has also been selected to be featured in the upcoming Rush Philanthropic collaboration with Bombay Sapphire Gin - Art Basel artisan competition.” The event will take place in Chinatown at Coagula gallery.

“My art is always changing in some ways, yet it is still contemporary themes so the contrast of bodies of work really don't contradict each other. I work in collections and groups so it keeps a nice balance of change, excitement, fresh concepts, but still consistence of previous works from years ago.” 

See image: by Sona Mirzaei, November - 36x48 - oil, wood, precious metal leafing, mixed media on canvas.

 

November has fall colors and hints of winter in the painting. It has complexity in depth, the mediums, design, and is three dimensional. These aspects really enhance the overall concept of this moment in November and all the it represents. You could stare long enough into the horizon of this piece and literally could experience a November day anywhere in the world and that makes the piece more dynamic in my opinion. 

Mirzaei will be part of several exhibitions in 2015. She adds “Art Basel is a great way to end the year and nice way to start a new chapter and I am looking forward to it.”

This Saturday & Sunday, (October 18th & 19^th), stop by and visit Sona Mirzaei at the Beverly Hills artSHOW from 10-5pm. The free event takes place at the Beverly Gardens on Santa Monica Boulevard from Rodeo Drive to Rexford Drive. For more info call (310) 285-6830 or visit www.beverlyhills.org/artshow To find out more about Sona Mizaei’s art, see http://www.sonamirzaei.com/

Internationally Exhibiting Artist Julienne Johnson Set to Show at Metcalf Gallery at Taylor University!

“PASSION AND STRUCTURE:  JULIENNE JOHNSON, 2008 — 2014” opens October 14^th at Metcalf Gallery at Taylor University (Indiana) curated by prominent art critic Peter Frank. Featuring the work of Julienne Johnson, the solo exhibit is supported and funded by Roger and Naomi Muselman of Berne, Indiana. 

A Los Angeles based artist, Johnson was born in Sandusky, Michigan, and has lived in many parts of the U.S., including Indiana, where she attended Taylor University. Here she studied art then went on to continue her studies at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. 

See photo: julienne signing autographs at Thaksin University Museum in Krabi Province, Thailand (Feb, 2014) 

Johnson has accomplished a great deal since leaving Art Center College of Design in 2009. She has shown internationally and in the United States and has participated in other University shows such as University of Southern California and University of Michigan. Her work is in permanent museum collections and permanent museum exhibitions, including: The Arab American National Museum, in Michigan and in Thailand, the Ratachadamnoen Museum in Krabi Province, and the Thaksin University Museum in Songkhla Province. In keeping up with her consistent pace, Johnson had already lined up extensive exhibits at the Fukuo Museum on Kyusha Island In Japan, followed by a show in Kyoto in 2015. She is also set to exhibit in Bombay and Thailand in 2016.

Johnson was recently part of the International Art X change, Thailand / USA 2014 exhibition. The event featured sixteen artists from the USA and was curated by Lydia Takeshita of LA ARTCORE Gallery in Little Toyko, and coordinated and hosted by Dr. Kamol Tassananchalee, a National Artist and curator from Thailand. “As guests of the government for two weeks, we were treated royally, while experiencing so much that tourists rarely would be privileged to experience,” explained Johnson.

“PASSION AND STRUCTURE: JULIENNE JOHNSON, 2008 — 2014” will feature eighteen artworks by the talented artist and will include mixed media paintings along with assemblage.

See image: Julienne Johnson Zephaniah 2010 oil with mixed media cloth, metal, wood, plastic with pigment transfers and collage on canvas 60x48 courtesy of private Korean collection 2

 

Peter Frank says it best…“Julienne Johnson has spent much of the last decade exploring her potential as an artist and exploring art's potential for mindful expression. She seeks to make sense of an alienating world by finding the coherent in the inchoate and the ecstatic in the rational,” 

Johnson will take her turn interviewing the famed critic himself for one of the upcoming events, The Role of the Critic in Shaping Culture. There will also be a poetry event, here Frank will read from his first published book of poems: The Travelogues. The week will include numerous lectures and a faculty reception.  See Taylor University’s website for details.

"Peter’s choice of work for the Taylor show was a surprise and frankly, it’s hard for me to imagine those particular pieces complimenting each other,” admitted Johnson. “Although I felt much like that with the first show that Lydia Takeshita curated for me at LA Artcore Gallery (Brewery location); and I really liked what Lydia did with my work.And it will be the same with “Structure and Passion.”

If you are near Upland, Indiana, don’t miss “PASSION AND STRUCTURE: JULIENNE JOHNSON, 2008 — 2014” featuring the art of Julienne Johnson. It opens October 14th, and will remain on view through November 7th, 2014 at Taylor University (236 West Reade Avenue, Upland, IN  46989-1001). For more info call 765-998-5322. For a full list of scheduled events taking place in conjunction with this exhibit, see Taylor University’s website. To find out more about the art of Julienne Johnson, see her website.