Neutral Disturbance pairs the sculpture of Amy Ralston and drawings of Stella Untalan.
Neutral colors, white, black, brown, and gray dominate the installation. Its organic gentleness is approachable and surprising both in its intimacy and scale.
A quiet insistence in the work is marked by memory. Ralston's sculpture poses as something you know, soft and enticing yet slightly disturbing. They are familiar yet alien; you are compelled to touch them. Untalan's minimalist winter twins explore visualizing the smells, sounds, and experience of what one can define as the past. The titles reveal the relationship of each pair of outlined rectangles; they are twins, not identical but only a few degrees apart.
The underlying is carefully considered by both artists. Soft wool obscures the wire framework in Ralston's sculpture and the almost opaque whites in Untalan's drawings obscure both the translucent substrate and marks.
The work asks us to be aware of our selves and our relationship to the world.
AMY RALSTON
Amy Ralston is an emerging artist whose varied experience brings a richness to her sculptures’ form and content. After receiving a BA in Architecture from Wellesley College, she attended graduate school for architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. Although she has never practiced as an architect, her focus in school on the experiential nature of architecture has informed her approach to sculpture.
Similarly, her work as a software developer has influenced her understanding of the ‘user’, of levels of abstraction, and of methods of communicating information. As a result of chronic illness, Ms. Ralston has decided to delay her serious pursuit of sculpture no longer. She is currently an Artist in Residence at Heron Studios in Aston, PA.
STELLA UNTALAN
Stella Untalan is an artist living and working in Philadelphia. Born in Guam, educated in NYC, settled in Philadelphia. Stella studied drawing and printmaking at the Art Students League and School of Visual Arts in New York City. She studied communication design at Parsons and has been a creative professional for more than 30 years.
The disciplined and intuitive aspects of being a designer and artist, the work and the play, the seeing and the telling, are totally integrated expressions.
