Acquired Symbols Exhibit Preview

Welcome to the preview of our exhibit entitled Acquired Symbols. This show brings together former students and friends of artist and teacher, John Lorence. It is our pleasure to give you a sneak peek at some of the artists and their diverse work that will be in the gallery in 2021. To view the work and its details, click on any image. If you would like to purchase a piece, please email the artist name and title of the work to info@maineartgallerywiscasset.org. We will help with the purchase process and get you in touch with the artist for pickup or shipping. Enjoy!

Camille Buch

Camille Buch lives in midcoast Maine. She is a graphic designer, illustrator, and multi-media artist. She has a M.A. in drawing from Central Washington University and attended the New School of Visual Concepts in Seattle for design. Camille has shown in multiple Maine galleries over her career as an artist.

Clara Cohan

"One of my ongoing life-learnings is to Be in the Moment and Be Still enough to reach an Authentic Self…a Self that comes from an infinite depth and rises to the surface to bring forth an expression that is more aligned with the vast Cosmos and the Collective Consciousness of our Planet.

Through my creations, I want people to feel a stirring, a familiar soulful remembering, a validation of the goodness of life and the great mystery of our being here. ...

As a child, I had the energy of a wildcat, the mind of an inventor, the determination of a gentle mountain stream on its way to the Ocean, and a heart as vast as the Universe.

Video by Clara Cohan: Sharing of Sustenance.

I have used these traits, to the fullest of my abilities, to explore and participate in the world. Nature has been my greatest teacher. I have spent time with cultures different than my own and have understood the beauty of diversity. Through my many mentors, I have honed skills. Through my own trials and errors, I have learned compassion for being human. I have understood the inter-connectivity of all things. This, and much more, has made me the creative being that I gratefully express." - Clara Cohan

Peter Haller

"I refer to this group of works as Color Constructions. They began in earnest about 2015 as I revisited my long-standing pull toward three dimensional work and its elements of form and materials.

There was a lot to learn when translating earlier work of flat color and composition. Material pushing process while simultaneously revealing within their inherent qualities new possibilities and unique qualities. Whether it be sheet- rock, cloth, plaster, wire, foam or what have you, the physical construction, the putting together, played into the building process, and shared a role in the aesthetic composition, as well.

I noticed also that my attitudes towards process have transitioned from the more formal relationship of “start, look, finish” to an expansive “explore, discover, continue”. This shift has allowed a boundlessness to take hold, freeing me from my “art-mind”. Curiosity and delight now dominate my process of art making. I'll leave the judgments to others." - Peter Haller

John Lorence

John Lorence has been an artist and painter for over sixty years. Much of his work is grounded in his interest in the concept of time, the earth, and how rocky landscapes remind us of our place in time. While the pieces in this preview show depict other locations, much of his inspiration comes from the rugged coast of Maine.

"I'm preoccupied with stone/rock in ledges, outcroppings, bedrock and concretions of all sorts. This series of paintings focuses on such subjects along the Maine coast from Ogunquit in York County, to Quoddy in Washington County. Pemaquid Point, somewhere in the middle and nearby, has been the starting point of my recent work. These images are partly literal as well as interpretive ... some are panoramic, and others, examining and close-up.

The Maine coast was the site of incredible primordial-geological making and shaping. I've painted these sites and [thought] about them for a very long time. The first painting at Bald Head Cliff in Ogunquit was done in 1952 and has long disappeared from my inventory. In the 1960s, I drew walls of fortress foundations to document excavations on an archeological expedition in Sudan.

Our universe and galaxies were at one time in an implosive state -- molten and gaseous -- and flowing for a long time. At one point, during a severe, rugged freeze, everything became fixed and somewhat complete on our planet -- yet, changing. Our EARTH developed into many variables; barren and fertile environments; areas with thin or thick soil; or just original desolate sedimentary rock. The earth was scarred and worn by glaciers; broken apart and fissured by violent earthquakes with amssive sections dropping into the ocean; or consumes slowly into odd forms by the sea's changeable tides and motion.

This is what it's all about. All of these formations are about the beginning of time, and what we see now before us in our own time." - John Lorence

Jorge Pena

"What is the meaning of art for me? Art is how I express myself by translating onto a surface what I have in my heart and mind. I am governed by my ancestry, which is Afro Colombian, influenced by memories of my childhood, my journey through life, in Colombia and in the USA. I have not had a conventional art career, as I was an entomologist for 40 years of my life; however, drawing and painting have always been my way that I have used to communicate.

I have been so lucky to have attended workshops with several known artists, such as Skip Lawrence, John Lorence, Martha Wakefield, and Adeline Goldminc-Tronzo among others. Since then I have been searching for my true self. I hope that you can visualize what I am trying to do. Of course, my Colombia is within me, the images and memories of the country where I was born, grew up and spent my youth are reflected in my work. The scenery, season’s colors and life in Maine have also made an impact and this influence is reflected in my latest paintings. I can’t avoid being motivated by the latest attack, death and injustice suffered by my kin folks. Then, some of my paintings show my response to injustice and racism.