Studio to Studio, Alumni Artists Teach

Teaching artists Robyn Cooper, Brittany Baldwin, Katherine Volpe, Samantha Dominik, and Melanie Delach are doubly special to Adelphi University. Once upon a time they were trained in Adelphi’s art department, and after establishing their own remarkable careers, they now teach. While as artists they are all unique, each possess a generosity of spirit as they share their knowledge with our students, and act as models that inspire our Adelphi emerging artists to imagine what is possible.

Image artwork: Brittany Baldwin, Photo Credit Jen Maloney

This exhibition pulls together the work of five remarkable artists with a special twist. Not only do we see their artworks, but we also get a peek into their processes.

The glimpse behind the scenes of Brittany Baldwin’s color “recipes” underscores that upholding the monumental and glorious rolling color of Baldwin’s work, there is a clear and deliberate thought process that makes it all possible. The result is bombastic pleasure as we reel and frolic with every bold stroke put to paper.

Samantha Dominik lays bare the nuances of her rich and fertile mind in a literal display of her influences pinned to an oversized cork board: here we see photographs, drawings, quotations and important objects that impact her creative works. Her whimsical little women squeeze out of the margins to center stage as they demand proper attention and respect.

Robyn Cooper builds her compositions right before our eyes as she strips her images down to their digital bricks. While each layer could be a finished piece of work, the journey from outline to cool finish makes audible the ticking of the complex mind that directs her intellectually emotional works within a world of quiet contemplation.

Mel Delach’s work continues the great traditions of Surrealism, while ushering viewers into a strange and wonderful world that is uniquely her own. We feel uneasy, yet seduced. Lastly, Katherine Volpe’s exquisite visual diaries pared with text help us to remember to celebrate the feast our eyes offer us moment to moment. She is the rapt witness of these scenes, and here we can see how vital artists are in helping us locate the slippages between our busy lives and the grace of existence.

The exhibition runs until April 17. There will be a public reception April 1, 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Curators Carson Fox and Jen Maloney are delighted to present these important works to the Adelphi University community.

For more information, contact:

Carson Fox 
Professor of Visual Arts Printshop Coordinator, Department of Art and Art History
fox@adelphi.edu / www.carsonfox.com