loved in time
Marisol Martinez, Prema Murthy, Rachel Rubenstein, Kim Uchiyama, and Karin Waskiewicz
LOVED IN TIME
Marisol Martinez, Prema Murthy, Rachel Rubenstein, Kim Uchiyama, and Karin Waskiewicz.
January 16th - February 20th
FORMah gallery is thrilled to present Loved In Time – an all abstract group exhibition that features five women artists: Marisol Martinez, Prema Murthy, Rachel Rubenstein, Kim Uchiyama, and Karin Waskiewicz. The artists’ practices, spanning diverse mediums and techniques, create a cohesive yet multifaceted dialogue about the cycles of life, the resilience of the human spirit, and the beauty of impermanence. From the rhythmic geometry of Martinez’s and Uchiyama’s works to the layered excavations of Waskiewicz and Rubenstein, and the cosmic geometry of Murthy, the exhibition is a testament to the power of abstraction to transcend boundaries.
The title, Loved in Time, inspired by Rubenstein’s painting, underscores the exhibition’s thematic preoccupation with the intersection of time and emotion. By invoking the passage of time, the artists articulate the ways in which memory, experience, and the ephemeral are embedded within material and process.
Rachel Rubentein’s “Loved In Time" painting reflects a journey of transformation and resilience. The exposed raw canvas, torn layers, and remnants of adhered strips symbolize the trials and stripping away of illusions over time. Her meticulous manipulation of materials, combined with her emotional use of color and texture, parallels the constant flux of inner and outer worlds. The interplay of oxidized bronze and iridescent gold tones, shimmering in the light, speaks to moments of divine grace breaking through. The progression in size of the strips represents growth, healing, and the steady unfolding of love—God’s love, self-love, and love for others. This work embodies the grace of discovering love just in time, before hope was lost, and the eternal nature of being loved in time.
Karin Waskiewicz’s carving technique decodes memories that faded and became abstract over time, reflecting her inward journey. Waskiewicz’s painting “Night Bloom” is inspired by the mysterious beauty of the evening primrose, a flower that blooms only at night. The artist sought to capture the delicate interplay between light and darkness, using layers of bright color that subtly emerge from a rich, dark purple background. The composition evokes the sense of fog drifting over a river, unveiling glimpses of the landscape as it ebbs and flows in and out of view. While the painting depicts a landscape, its orientation gives it a bodily presence, inviting the viewer to experience the quiet, fleeting moments of night.
Exhibition’s dialogue is between geometry and abstraction serves as a conceptual axis that grounds the work. The artists incorporate geometric elements, utilizing them as a language through which emotional, spiritual, and intellectual landscapes are constructed and deconstructed. These formal investigations are not merely aesthetic; they are imbued with the personal and collective narratives, offering a multifaceted exploration of abstraction as a tool for reflection and communication.
Kim Uchiyama’s work evoke the structural harmony of classical architecture, where the interplay of light, color, and form reveals a contemporary reinterpretation of timeless aesthetic principles. The painting “Propylaea” is part of a recent body of work influenced by Italian Renaissance compositions, Pompeiian fresco painting, and the character of Greek and Roman architecture. After spending considerable time visiting and meticulously studying the expansive Greek temple sites in Sicily and southern Italy, Uchiyama aims to convey her personal sensual experience of these places. The artist utilizes elements of architectural orders to develop new "constructions" rooted in the language of modernist abstraction. In this work, pictorial space is created by embracing flatness and the inherent structure of the grid. This constructed space is further enriched through the use of color relationships and their juxtapositions within the painting, evoking a variety of experiences. As Hans Hofmann famously remarked, “In nature, light creates color; in the picture, color creates light.” The creation of light through color is a fundamental aspect of Uchiyama’s approach to painting.
“This constructed space is further enriched through the use of color relationships and their juxtapositions within the painting, evoking a variety of experiences. As Hans Hofmann famously remarked, “In nature, light creates color; in the picture, color creates light.” The creation of light through color is a fundamental aspect of Uchiyama’s approach to painting.”
Marisol Martinez’s vibrant explorations of geometric abstraction further amplify the exhibition’s thematic underpinnings, using color and form to delve into identity, emotion, and the shared human experience. The unique use of shape and color allows Martinez to speak about the complexities of identity, community, and emotion in a way that is both intimate and universal. Geometric abstraction in the artist’s work is an attempt to capture the essence of the life itself, creating tension and contradiction. The richness of color and form refer to the spectrum of human emotions and experiences, and our collective and individual journeys over time. Each piece is a meditation on the fluidity of our existence—showing that life is not static, but rather a constant ebb and flow of feelings, encounters, and revelations. Martinez’s abstraction serves as a bridge and triggers a dialogue, creating space for a deeper understanding of ourselves and each other. By focusing on the emotional and social undercurrents of human life, she invites the viewer into a shared moment of reflection—one that transcends words and speaks directly to the unconscious.
“By working with geometric abstraction, I aim to strip away the noise of the visible world, focusing instead on the core emotional and psychological patterns that exist beneath the surface. The shapes and colors in my work are not just aesthetic choices; they are an attempt to capture the essence of life itself, in all its contradictions and nuances.” - Marisol Martinez
Known for her monochromatic paintings, that reveal timeless, hidden structures of unseen inner worlds, Prema Murthy Full Circle series (2019-2020) synthesize drawing and painting on a single surface. Quiet yet bold, the work strikes a balance between minimalist form and expressionistic gesture. Reminiscent of electrons swirling around an atom’s nucleus, planets orbiting the sun, the seasons of life and death, a divine life-force - the circles fill the empty space with a sense of the cycles of time, movement and stillness simultaneously. Small in size yet impactful in presence, geometrical diagrams convey a psychic circuitry that runs through mind and cosmos -as forms of energy expanding into higher dimensions. Messages of geometry and light move through artist while she sleeps. They appear in her mind’s eye as she wake in the early morning before dawn. She records the mathematics of line and shape before they fade. Not immediate by nature, these messages take time, maybe lifetimes, to decode.
Collectively, Loved in Time offers a contemplative space where viewers are invited to engage with abstraction as both a formal and affective experience. The exhibition encourages a reconsideration of how the material and immaterial intersect, urging reflection on the intimate connections between time, and emotions, between the transformative potential of creative expression.
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