Virginia Fleck and Daphane Park have been traveling recently. Fleck went to Cuba twice as a visiting artist and also made a trip to Tuscany. Park traveled, painted, and drew in many of America's western national parks and then spent time in Italy teaching and making art. The new work of both of these artists has been influenced by their various travel experiences.

Since our last exhibition of her work in 2001, Virginia Fleck has created several large installation pieces. They include Lamina Groove, which is on permanent display at the Deep Eddy EMS station and takes her sod forms to monumental proportions, and inflatable sculpture made of discarded plastic shopping bags shown both in Havana and Austin (at Gallery 106). In her work for this exhibition at d berman gallery, Fleck continues to explore materials and form. She has created sod sculptures utilizing both the raw sod, the "trained" roots of the sod, and a waxing technique that imparts a look of hide to the sod. Fleck will also be exhibiting new inflatable pieces and some new painted concrete and wire work. Fleck has received several awards and residencies, and has exhibited her work at many venues statewide, including the Austin Museum of Art at Laguna Gloria and at the Dallas Visual Art Center.

For a preview of Flecks work click here

This will be Daphane Park's first major exhibition here at d berman gallery. Her new work, an outgrowth of her extensive travels, consists of painted forms from nature on shaped wooden panels. The works include wall installations of leaves and seed pods, and works from her "Arrows Pointing West" series, aerial views which merge observed physical details with personal experience and fantasy. The works glow with intense color and exquisite detail. Park received her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and has received several grants, including a Fullbright research grant. Park has painted, taught and exhibited in several countries, including Ecuador, Italy and France.

For a preview of Parks work click here