"Chopsticks 1 (diptych)" by Teri Dryden, Mixed media, 11x14in, 2018, $1000

“Chopsticks” as a musical piece is a simple but clever composition for piano that highlights the foundation of harmony and the structure of piano technique. In two of the paintings we see here, Teri Dryden adopts the title, and it appears she is recognizing a similar idea in her painting. The abstract compositions feel immediate, spontaneous in the very active and vigorous application of medium, as if the artist almost didn’t give herself time to think. The raw emotion captured goes to the heart of Abstract Expressionism, so that the images academically capture the foundation of the movement while also being very pure visual communication.

The effectiveness of that communication is a priority for Dryden: “The more I’ve traveled and ventured out, the more I’ve come to recognize the tissue that connects us as humans no matter where we live, how we speak, what we eat and drink, how we love or what we find beautiful. I mine that rich tapestry of experience and attempt to create a universal language on canvas that can speak to everyone.”

"Chopsticks 2 (diptych)" by Teri Dryden, Mixed media, 11x14in, 2018, $1000

“My work is informed by extraordinary life experiences that have shaped my aesthetic and worldview. I have an intense curiosity about places and the ways in which they connect, divide or define us. As an artist, I don’t simply “see” visual stimuli—I absorb them, and they become a part of my psyche. As a young woman, I traveled with Ringling Brothers Circus for two years, lived on a train, performed in every contiguous U.S. state, and gathered thousands of indelible impressions from garish to gorgeous that often find their way from my memory to my brush. I’ve experienced the exotic cultures of China, India and SE Asia, swum with stingrays in the Caribbean and paddled through a Mississippi swamp.”

In August and September, Dryden will be in residency in Onishi, Japan at the Shiro One Studios, which was founded with the philosophy that while most artists produce much of their work on their own, nurturing creativity through community, collaboration, and quiet reflection could enrich the development of ideas. She has received a Professional Development Scholarship from the Louisville Fund For the Arts to help fund this residency

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland
Education: Towson University
Website: http://www.teridryden.com
Gallery Representative: B.Deemer Gallery (Louisville) Brandt-Roberts Galleries (Columbus), Contemporain Gallery, (Baton Rouge) and Robert Kent Galleries (Marietta)