Luminism:
A Modern Approach
2022 Kingston Design Showhouse
29 Maiden Lane, Kingston, New York
Showhouse Dates: October 7 - 22
Upon entering the 1901 Victorian house on Maiden Lane, my eyes were immediately drawn to the warm light streaming from the original stained-glass window at the top of the staircase. The gradient light dappled the walls and gave an illusion of atmosphere in this quiet yet alluring space. It was then that my vision took shape.
I imagined the foyer as a gallery; a contemplative space to explore creativity via the exhibition of objects and art. Although the area is small, it could be a memorable place to linger by focusing on the walls.
I drew my inspiration from the Luminist painters of the mid-1800s and their romantic landscapes depicting the harmony of the river, the hazy distant forest, and luminous skies. I chose to finish the walls in a bluish-gray custom marmorino lime plaster, providing the perfect, subtle backdrop to mimic the moody ethereal skies of those early landscape paintings.
The Hudson River School painters, such as Kensett, Church, and Peal, whose works evoked the quiet spirituality they experienced observing the natural phenomena of light and reflection. I selected artworks for the gallery that embodied those same qualities: Sculptor Ekaterina Leiva’s ceramic, Broken II, with its dark earthy tones and reflective metallic surface. Susan English, whose painting Bedside uses observations of light in relation to objects and spaces to create colors, atmospheres, and surfaces in her work. For Susan “color is never stable...it exists always in relationship to light and a relational context to other colors.”
Modern custom light sculptures and seating are placed to emphasize the unexpected and provide drama. The inescapable influence of light is evident from Ian McMahon’s Line Luminair Lights. His work most recently has been an exploration of the creative possibilities using boat shrink wrap and steel. These light sculptures illuminate the passageway and offer a modern interpretation of the armature of the stained-glass window.
Artist Mollie McKinley’s soft photographic sculpture, Blue Froth Phantasm, with a bold strip of neon light, creates a uniform glow that infuses the space and sets the stage for an unexpected journey through a corridor of innovative sculpture and art.
Inspiration
"I love that mix of a very beautiful modern element and something found in nature”
-Simone Eisold
ARTWORKS & OBJECTS
EKATERINA LEIVA - BLACK EARTH BENCH, 2022
Patinated Steel, Wood, Gypsum, Plaster, Graphite and Mixed Media | 42 x 18 x 14in | $8000
While continuing the material exploration of her recent sculptural works titled Windows, at this time Ekaterina’s work took on the shape of a functional object - a bench. Inspired by the mountain views of the Hudson Valley region, where the artist currently resides, the bench is featuring a design composed of clay-formed gypsum tiles that are set within the steel structure that outlines and separates the forms, similarly to the lead came lines of the stained glass.
JACQUES JARRIAGE - “Hand” Candleholder, 2017
Hand Hammered Brass | 9 in x 5.50 in x 3 in | $2700
Jacques Jarrige began to work directly with the human body as a uniquely challenging physical space, developing new forms to unify the lines and movements of the wearer’s body. These striking bands and pendants of energetically hammered metal feel more like intimate companions than ornaments. They evoke the sepals, petals, and stamen of flowers; pushing and focusing attention and interest to the wearer.
IAN MCMAHON - SET OF LINE LUMINAIR LIGHT
Shrink wrap, Wood, and LED Lights | 22" x 22" x 2.5" | $1600
Ian McMahon (IMA) is a material collaborator living and working in Newburgh, NY. McMahon practices a process driven inquiry into ubiquitous materials, rigorously interrogating their unique qualities to uncover results that are as honest as they are unbelievable. The work on display in this exhibition uses boat shrink wrap as both mold and finished membrane, celebrating the tactile delicacy and visual opulence often overshadowed by its protective industrial purpose.
RODGER STEVENS - SEVENTY-TWO INCH BRANCH
Hammered and Riveted Brass
Rodger Stevens is an artist and sculptor that creates epic sculptures out of many different materials including steel, wire, and iron. Born and bred in New York, Stevens garners inspiration from his surroundings – even very ordinary architectural pieces like scaffolding, fire hydrants, mailboxes, or even manhole covers.
KIERAN KINSELLA, Custom Wood Stools, 2022
Wood is carved from the trunks of trees using locally sourced and salvaged hardwoods.
Kieran Kinsella is a sculptor and furniture maker based in New York’s Hudson Valley. All wood pieces are made from select Northeast hardwoods, hand carved and
kiln-dried. Ceramics are handmade using slip cast porcelain and hand built stoneware.
Stump stools and tables are made in his Hudson Valley studio, carved from the trunks of trees using locally sourced and salvaged hardwoods.
EKATERINA LEIVA - BROKEN II, 2022
Glazed Ceramic, Frame (Wood and Cement) | 32 x 46 x 2.5 in | $6300
Ekaterina Leiva is a visual artist who predominantly works in the medium of sculpture. Broken is an ongoing series of glazed ceramic works that she started this year reflecting on the current state of the world.
“To all the brokenhearted, broken promises and broken dreams. A mirror to the broken world.” -Ekaterina Leiva
IAN MCMAHON - CONTINUOUS LINE LUMINAIR
Shrink wrap, Steel, and Light Hardware | 30in x 20in | $600
Ian McMahon (IMA) is a material collaborator living and working in Newburgh, NY. McMahon practices a process driven inquiry into ubiquitous materials, rigorously interrogating their unique qualities to uncover results that are as honest as they are unbelievable. The work on display in this exhibition uses boat shrink wrap as both mold and finished membrane, celebrating the tactile delicacy and visual opulence often overshadowed by its protective industrial purpose.
SUSAN ENGLISH - PRESENTIMENT, 2018
Painting, Tinted Polymer on Panel | 33 in x 24 in | $4,400
Susan English uses observations of light in relation to objects and spaces to create colors, atmospheres and surfaces in her work. Landscapes condense into shapes of color, and she portrays those shapes by pouring layers of tinted polymer onto panels. Those layers harden with various thickness and viscosity, the pools of paint, cracks, and coagulations creating enticing surfaces that capture a delicate relationship between control and accident. These panels are then assembled into horizontal or vertical sequences to create a narrative of color, space, and light
SEBASTIAN SCHERER - IRIS GLOBE, 2013
Mouth-blown Glass, Polished Aluminum | Lexus Design Award 2014
The Iris Globe pendant lamp looks like an iridescent soap bubble. It is the result of ambitious craftsmanship combined with innovative technology. The coating process specially developed for the luminaire uses the same physical effect as a real soap bubble. The play of colours on the surface is influenced not only by the colour variation of the coating but also by the colour environment and brightness of the room.
CLAIRE DE LAVALEE, Constellation, 2019
Earthenware and Enamel Plates | Unique Wall art : a series of 5 | Ceramics
The pieces can also be arranged on a large table | Diameters are : 8.5", 9.8", 11.8" 15" and 15.3
The stars, planets, comets and nebulae attract me," explains Claire de Lavallée. She follows the science, but most importantly, she visits heavenly bodies in her dreams, and brings her impressions back to earth.
MOLLIE MCKINLEY - BLUE FROTH PHANTASM, 2022
Photographic soft sculpture printed on canvas and silk habotai with neon. 60” in x 40 in x 1 in
The artwork is an illuminated photograph printed on padded and cauterized canvas with neon. McKinley’s recent work in sculptural photography looks closely at the wet phenomena of the natural world. Working with moving bodies of water in New York State, she photographs the tiny details of waterfall froth, primordial drips, and liquids seeping up from the earth as embodiments of alchemical transformation. Enlarging them to a grand scale, bubble patterns become mystic communications from the elemental worlds.
IAN MCMAHON - LINE LUMINAIR LIGHT
Shrink wrap, Steel, and Light Hardware | 16" x 16" x 2.5" | $700
Ian McMahon (IMA) is a material collaborator living and working in Newburgh, NY. McMahon practices a process driven inquiry into ubiquitous materials, rigorously interrogating their unique qualities to uncover results that are as honest as they are unbelievable. The work on display in this exhibition uses boat shrink wrap as both mold and finished membrane, celebrating the tactile delicacy and visual opulence often overshadowed by its protective industrial purpose.
SUSAN ENGLISH - BESIDE, 2018
Painting, Tinted Polymer on Panel | 24 in x 23 in | $3,500
Color is never stable...it exists always in relationship to light and in a relational context to other colors—reactions to colors are personal and resonate with memories and feelings. As such it is a deep well of content to explore. For me, a painting reaches an end point when the cumulative phenomenon of surface and color cohere, reaching a state of beauty that resonates on multiple levels.
DOVE BRADSHAW, CONTINGENCY, 2018
Silver, Liver of sulfur, Pyrite, Pigment, and Varnish on Linen | $18,000
“Aesthetic and chance aspects of the Contingency works are equally important. If the materials and the concept are both beautiful, whatever the result of change and chance that too will be beautiful, even when the surface may go through what some may view as a beast stage.” -Dove Bradshaw
STUDIO FOUR NYC
Artist Brit Kleinman’s hand-dyed leather juxtaposes classic materials with modern executions. Her leather floor and wall tiles, upholstery and hides are hand-painted in Brooklyn offer a graphic update to enduring materials.
We make hand dyed leather, woven rugs, and surfaces that spark curiosity.