TURN Gallery is pleased to present INTERVAL, a two person exhibition of New York-based artists Mary Corman and Melissa Joseph. Although divergent in mediums and approach, Corman and Joseph both explore the interrelationships between time, space and experience, expanding the viewer's perception of the actual and the imagined.
Mary Corman’s paintings evoke vast empty spaces that are protected by their enclosure. Appearing vacant, they are quietly weighted by the residue of the past, the history of those who have been there before her, witnessing these same formal elements, this same quiet emptiness. "I make pilgrimages to empty spaces and photograph them endlessly. I sit with the images for a long time until something resonates. I make watercolor sketches from the photographs that feel right to me, and from those sketches make paintings.”
Her process is slow and steady. Her chosen linen surface is so refined and smooth that the oil paint almost floats above the canvas until the canvas nearly disappears; allowing layers of subtle gradations of light, a sense of transparency - a ghost of the passage of time. Her canvas’ invisible history evokes both mystery and familiarity. Through this process Corman captures the weight, comfort and discipline of her silent spaces.
Working with felt or clay, Melissa Joseph’s practice is “an endless consideration of the implications of how we occupy space.” Joseph is interested in connecting people through “collective memory and shared experiences.” Employing an expressionist approach, Joseph depicts her family’s archival photographs in felt. Her rhythm is fast and highly tactile. Recently adding clay to her materials, Joseph created a series of airplane windows. In this body of work the figures are not overt but rather abstracted and implied. Joseph’s motif of airplane windows invites viewers to join her in peering outward and evokes sensations of anticipation, distance, hope, in-betweenness and the possibility of being transported.
Melissa Joseph has an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and a Masters of Art and Teaching from the Rhode Island School of Design. Melissa Joseph’s recent exhibitions include a solo presentation with REGULARNORMAL Gallery at NADA MIAMI, and group exhibitions at Bravin Lee Projects, Swivel Gallery, Pentimenti Gallery, Independent Art Fair, Ross + Kramer and the South Asia Institute of Chicago.
Mary Corman received her MFA from New York University, Steinhardt School. Recent group exhibitions include 80WSE Gallery, Black Ball Projects, Studio 200. She participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and Columbia University, is a recipient of the Louis Sudler Grant and was nominated for a fellowship from the Daedalus Foundation. She teaches painting at NYU and lives and works in New York City.