The Chazan Gallery @ Wheeler will be presenting an exhibition of paintings by Laura Fayer and sculpture by Michael Hansel from January 17 - February 6, 2003. There will be an opening reception for the artists on Friday, January 17 from 5 - 7 pm. The public is invited

Laura Fayer makes colorful, process-oriented abstract paintings based on patterns of movement. She observes "systems and networks found in nature, for instance, ant colonies, solar systems and weather patterns; and also those created by humans, such as road and runway markings." She then translates these studies into densely layered paintings using oils, acrylics, ink, stencils, and stamps, "organizing the disparate elements into a loose geometry with organic rhythms."

Fayer received her BA from Harvard University and lives and works in New York. Her work has been exhibited in the United States and France.

In his mixed media sculptures, Michael Hansel explores the relationship between industry and life by creating forms that are both machine-like and organic. Ranging in size from sixteen inches to fourteen feet high, Hansel's sculptures appear to serve various industrial functions, but their collective purpose is purely aesthetic. Each piece "tells a slightly different story. Some suggest a tranquil association between two very different components. Others allude to machines that can manipulate organic things, and sometimes plant-forms start to take on mechanical characteristics. All of them attempt to illustrate the sense of irony that seems to exist when forms are separated from their function."

Hansel received his MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Newport, Rhode Island, where he teaches art at St. George's School.

Top: Laura Fayer, Dive, 2001, acrylic, ink, oil, 10"x8"
Bottom: Michael Hansel, Submersible, 2002, Steel, 18"x15"x15"