#1
Shane Guffogg
June 2009
Oil on Linen

“The Golden Mean is the mathematical code of nature that gives the flower the instructions on how to grow its petals, or the ratio of the inner part versus the outer part of water as it goes down a drain. It is the same ratio up in the sky that we can see on a clear night — the way the solar systems revolve around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.”

#2
Lisa Adams
June 2009
Oil on Linen

“Overlaying stripes across the entire surface of the painting, I created a look much like the experience of rushing by a fence and seeing the landscape beyond, like a Muybridge effect. Whereas the given painting feels soft in focus and attitude, I responded with a cold and hard-edged attitude.”

#3
Margaret Lazzari
June 2009
Acrylic on Linen

“When I stared fixedly at the painting, pink afterimages appeared like dancing lines jumping around the blue bars, or pink clouds floating among the blue amorphous shapes. Rigidity, clarity, and definition dissolved, reappeared, and dissolved again.”

#8
Michelle Weinstein
October 2009
Mixed Media on Linen

“I knew I wanted the piece to hover between an analysis (all of the discoveries about the birth of the universe as we know them today were discovered in a laboratory, and I wanted this implied visually) while creating forms that were biomorphic, squiggly, wriggling with beginnings.”

#9
Vonn Sumner
November 2009
Oil on Linen

“I found it surprisingly frustrating. I started over. Staring again at the piece I was given, I tried to see the essence of what was there.”

#10
Ruth Weisberg
March 2010
Oil on Linen

“In pursuit of Truth, we are only allowed to see one link, one small part of the larger puzzle. The Surrealists who invented the game of Exquisite Corpse hoped that a mysterious and only partially revealed prompt would provide access to the unconscious and encourage great leaps of the imagination.”

#32
Justin Bower
June 2011
Oil on Linen

“I was interested in the Heisenbergian concept I saw in the previous painting, it reminded me of an illustration of what quantum mechanics would look like. I saw particles moving, existing in two states at once, uncertain of any real stability.”

#33
Lita Albuquerque
July 2011
Oil on Linen

“I could not get anywhere and was very frustrated and covered it over many times as it just was not happening.”

#34
Kim Abeles
November 2011
Mixed Media on Linen

“Each death reminds us how lucky we are to have-another-day. Each passing friend continues to watch us, prodding us to quit whining over our failures and prompting us to keep trying since that’s where faith is located. So at some point, seven or nearly eight dots give way to 120 gold spots, maybe stars, or probably angels.”

#47
Cal Lane
July 2014
Steel and Fabric on Canvas

“The fabric suggested a lot of the narrative that seemed to be happening in the painting that I received, while overlaying the steel brought in the focus of the conversation. The guns point at each other showing a useless conflict. The map and foolscap bring in visual suggestions of school and history.”

#48
Lisa Bartleson
October 2014
Ink on School Uniform Blouse

“Women were shot, doused with acid, poisoned, kidnapped, raped and killed – and still many persevered. This work is comprised of media clippings concerning violence against women and girls seeking to better themselves and their community through education. The weight of the words is carried on the back of a typical school uniform blouse.”

#49
Ed Ruscha
January 2016
Acrylic on Linen