Art by Irene Nelson and Valerie Corvin
July – September 2024
Cultural exploration is short on spontaneity these days. We no longer embrace getting lost because discovery is preplanned. Every journey is mapped, and algorithms curate the content we consume. Irene Nelson and Valerie Corvin are on a different type of journey. Their art is an act of discovery that relies on intuition and experimentation to uncover unexpected relationships. Each collage, painting, print, and drawing represents a process of exploration, and the resulting abstracts swim with ideas and forms that didn’t exist at their beginnings.
Irene Nelson’s process uses various mediums, from painting to drawing to monotypes. Her abstract work constructs impressions that explore the thin line between memory and imagination. Valerie Corvin’s work seeks to rejuvenate the sense of wonder we had as children. She works in mixed media on board and paper, using her visual language of shapes, marks, and lines to bring forth a sense of joy, beauty, and curiosity.
We are pleased to welcome Irene Nelson and Valerie Corvin to our office gallery. Their work demonstrates what it means to have an art practice. Each day, they put in the time, face the unknown, and embrace what might be possible.
1820 Solano Avenue, Berkeley California
The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please call 510.528.5820 to reserve a time to visit.
Exhibit Gallery
Irene Nelson
Songs of Myself #1
Watercolor and ink on paper
11” x 14” (16” x 20” framed)
Irene Nelson
Grief of Stars #8
Monoprint on paper
16” x 20” (23” x 30” framed)
Irene Nelson
Back to Black
Acrylic on wood panel
30” x 40”
Irene Nelson
Antidote #12
Watercolor and ink on paper
18” x 24” (22” x 30” framed)
Irene Nelson
Pink Portal
Acrylic mixed media on wood panel
40” x 40”
Irene Nelson
Hey Now
Acrylic mixed media on wood panel
24” x 24”
Irene Nelson
Curtain Call
Acrylic on wood panel
36” x 36”
Irene Nelson
After All
Acrylic on wood panel
40” x 40”
Valerie Corvin
On Time
Mixed media on canvas
12” x 12”
$250
Valerie Corvin
Joyful Anticipation
Oil on panel
24” x 24”
$800
Valerie Corvin
Edge of Something
Mixed media on canvas
24” x 24”
$900
Valerie Corvin
Cloudy Day
Mixed media on panel
36” x 36”
$2,250
Valerie Corvin
Long View from Turtleback Mountain
Mixed media on canvas
36” x 36”
$2,250
Valerie Corvin
Hope Fills My Dreams
Mixed media on canvas
36” x 48”
$3,000
Valerie Corvin
Dancing in the Streets
Mixed media on canvas
36” x 48”
$3,000
Valerie Corvin
On My Way
Mixed media on canvas
36” x 48″
$3,000
Irene Nelson
Originally from New York, I have spent most of my adult life living in the San Francisco Bay Area. My work is an osmosis of the influence of the New York Abstract artist attitude and the sensibility of light in the Bay Area landscape.
As an abstract painter, I create impressions constructed from the thin line between memory and imagination. My gestural marks are organic and free from formula and conscious constraint. Whether painting, drawing, or working with monotypes, my process is guided by a mix of intuition and tenacious experimentation. Compositions evolve as acts of discovery rather than having a planned destination. My practice is a process of working through vulnerability to intimacy to strength and the belief that I am a part of something larger than myself.
Being an artist means that one is compelled to make work—to persevere, to exist in a place of not knowing, and to welcome mistakes along the way. The materials and methods one chooses is wide open. The important aspects are to create something that comes from oneself, to experiment, and to hopefully discover something in your own process. An artist makes things, and at a certain point, a practice develops. There is a commitment to keep showing up to do the work, to learn about the work other artists are making, to engage in dialogue with other artists, to be open to using new materials, as we continually ask the question, What if?
More information at irenenelson.com
For purchasing, please email Irene
Follow her on Instagram @irenelson
Valerie Corvin
Valerie Corvin is an American contemporary abstract painter working in the San Francisco Bay Area. Corvin holds a Master of Arts, Museum Administration and worked for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as a museum educator. She began painting twenty years ago, studying fine art at the California College of the Arts and with numerous painting instructors from around the country. Drawn to fine arts from her family background, both parents are artists, her dad an international award-winning designer of fine jewelry, and her mother a painter and sculptor.
She is a founder of an arts center in her community, the Piedmont Center for the Arts, and managed its visual arts program for eight years. Promoting and creating opportunities for fellow emerging artists is a passion, and Corvin is the founder and administrator of a juried art competition exhibition now in its eighth year. In addition, Corvin recently concluded a 9-year term as a Trustee of the Board of Directors at the Oakland Museum of California.
Artist Statement
I loved lying in the grass, looking at clouds as a kid. Those memories and feelings still fill my imagination. Shapes in nature spark my creativity. My artwork is about reclaiming that sense of wonder from looking at nature. Searching for that sensation of aliveness. All the while working from my intuition for authenticity. Ultimately, my visual language of shapes, marks, and lines brings forth the feelings we all share of joy, beauty, curiosity, and our fundamental humanness.
For more information visit valeriecorvin.com
For purchasing, please email Valerie
Follow Valerie on Instagram @valerie_corvin_abstracts