“Textural Progressions:
Anti-Static Conversations”
Alexander/Heath Contemporary
is proud to present the extraordinary work of
Roanoke artist, creator and curator
Fleda Armistead Ring
November 2 through December 1, 2018
Open Weekdays: 1-4 pm, Friday night 7-8:30
or by appointment – 607.226.2473
CLOSING RECEPTION:
Friday, November 30th, 6 to 9 pm
Artist/Curator discussion from 7:30 to 8:15
Images from the Opening Reception, Friday, November 2nd, 2018
A native of Virginia, Fleda A. Ring’s artistic career began at eight years old when she began intaglio and photographic printing alongside her father. Her early influences and extensive studies included the Renaissance and Baroque masters Bernini, Canaletto, and Tiziano due to her love for their talents and interest in the way these artists communicated with their viewers. This interest in communication and exchange became an intergral part of her own work, which draws upon her more current artistic influences including Phil Frost, Gary Gaffney, Alberto Giacometti, Ludwika Ogorzelec, Carol Wax, and Erwin Wurm.
The artist’s current series, entitled opens up passages of respectful, insightful and intellectual communication between viewers and the artworks themselves. Due to the technological dependence, isolation, fear, discord and absence of passion that characterize our current times, many individuals have closed themselves off from our natural need to interact with one another and our environment. Fleda’s works— described as “Textural Progressions”meditative, abstract, expressionist and gestural—seek to inspire contemplation, prompt conversation and encourage patience, truth, effort and honesty.
These visual conversations and detailed maps of texture are created through an intense, yet carefully controlled, process which involves building texture through the application of layers of gesso, graphite, acrylic paints and ink pen onto wood panels or canvas. They integrate visual patterns and textural influences from the natural world as the visual driving force, drawing upon Fleda’s upbringing in Virginia’s Appalachian mountains, her father’s work as a premier wildlife illustrator, and her love for our imperiled planet. The finished pieces echo aspects of the Hyperexpressionist movement , as they emphasize art’s ability and absolute need to emotionally communicate with the viewer
through raw, alive colors and movement. To quote David Milliozzi, for the Hyperexpressionist, “the continuous search for meaning…is transposed and materialized in every instance in the work of art that then acts as a mirror, from an alter ego [escaping] from the most embarassing and hidden part of [the artist].”* The techiniques utilized within Fleda’s artworks originated and evolved out of a personal need for meditative and expressive practices while bedridden due to multiple surgeries from 2011 – 2013, and as an adult living with severe chronic pain.
Fleda is a graduate of the Virginia School of the Arts and earned an Associate’s Degree in Graphic Design from the Art Academy of Cincinnati. She has studied visual arts at Northern Kentucky University and Hollins University. Her works have appeared in galleries in Roanoke, Virginia; Watertown, Massachusetts; Indianapolis, Chicago and at the 2016 London Parallax Art Fair. She is the owner of Fleda A. Ring Artworks— formerly a gallery in downtown Roanoke, Virginia—and now a business devoted to local creative communities, non-profit art focused events and exhibitions specializing in groundbreaking works by unexpected new artists and established artists working outside their self-imposed boundaries.
Fleda A. Ring / September 2018 / Website