Socially Conscious Sculptor, Steven Dobbin Returns to Ch'i

Ch'i is pleased to announce our June Gallery Exhibitions. Socially conscious sculptor, Steven Dobbin returns to Ch'i with "Not Otherwise Specified" and Korean artist, HunJu Park also returns with "Imagination and Dreams" - her newest mixed media paintings. Both Exhibitions run from June 17 - July 22, 2005 with an artists' reception on June 17th from 6-9pm. Gallery hours for the exhibition are Mon. 9am-4pm, Thurs. 9am-6pm, Fri.-Sun. 11:30am-8pm at the gallery's home- 293 Grand St, in the Williamsburg Section of Brooklyn.

Brooklyn, NY (PRWEB) June 8, 2005 -- Steven Dobbin and his Sculpture.

Steven Dobbin is a sculptor who uses his pieces to reflect his " concern with the emotionally disturbed students which I teach and for their uncertain futures. The consequences of tragic circumstances and the impact of personal choices on the lives of others is explored through figurative vessels, shelters, icons and altars." Mr. Dobbin received his fine art degrees from Indiana State University, the University of Southern California and George Washington University. His sculptures have appeared in both group and solo exhibitions in California, Washington, D.C. , Maryland and New York as well as the Artists' Museum in D.C., the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, the Pasadena Amory Center for the Arts in California, Occidental College in Los Angeles, California State University, the University of Maryland, RX Arts and Ch'i both in New York and the Millennium Art Center in D.C. He has a permanent installation entitled "Labyrinth" at the Phillip Morris School in Maryland. His work has been published in the Frederick Gazette, the Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Dobbin recently moved from teaching at a private school for at risk youth to a public school setting where he is working with other types of disabled youth. In both cases the students and their environment affect his own sculpture. He is disturbed by the school systems nomenclature for youths with a variety of "emotional" disabilities as "not otherwise specified" disabilities and from this phrase took the title of his current exhibition. The works within the exhibition deal with issues which this category of student faces daily- poor housing, racial segregation of schools and school groups, guns in their environment, poverty, and the " no child left behind" ruling which most often leaves this group of at risk students behind. He utilizes materials that are, for worse, components of their environments- lead, copper, brass and enamel paints to create his mixed media sculptures. The resulting sculptures are either wall reliefs or three-dimensional structures that ask the viewer to examine these pertinent but often overlooked issues. The installation at Chi in the "Not Otherwise Specified " exhibition will run from June 17th - July 22, 2005 and Mr. Dobbin will be on hand at the June 17th reception to further discuss the work.

Hair, Ink and Nails

The second exhibition at Ch'i during June will feature the unique hair, ink and nail paintings on board of Korean artist, HunJu Park. Ms. Park's paintings while at first startling are beautiful in their texture and serene like a more traditional Zen painting. Ms. Park covers her surface with Sumi ink and then uses hair (synthetic and real) along with tiny silver nails as her calligraphic lines. She hopes her works are a tribute to the existence of human life within the cosmos. These paintings, often described as "nebula", or organic "pods" by viewers capture the Oriental elements of earth, fire, wood, water and metal within their substances - an important concept and component for Ms. Park who tries to illustrate the harmony between all these elements and to humans.

"Imaginations and Dreams" takes Ms. Park's explorations further as the paintings included in the Ch'i exhibition in June are more complex dream and land scapes. This exhibition marks her third with Chi not included the gallery's inclusion of her work at the annual AAF fair in NYC, the AAF in London and ArtLA. The earlier paintings in this series premiered at Art Forum New Gate in Seoul, Korea this past year. Ms. Park's paintings have previously been exhibited in Brookyn, Manhattan, Maryland, California, Korea and Japan. She has been published in Art in America, Arts of Asia Pacific, "Journey of My Mind" by Art Forum Newgate, the Korean Times and others. Ms. Park received her degress in fine arts from Sook-Myung Women's University in Korea and the Fashion Institute of Technology and Pratt Institute in New York City. "Imaginations and Dreams" will show concurrently with "Not Otherwise Specified" from June 17 - July 22, 2005 at Ch'i's location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Following the opening on the 17th, Ch'i director, Tracy Causey-Jeffery will lead a private group of collectors through these two exhibitions and through 8 additional artists studios in the NYC area. The event will feature the studios of James Serkoch, Alexis Portilla, Kathleen Spicer, Christine Sciulli, Kristen Brenneman Eno, John Clement and Carri Skozek as well as fine wines provided by UVA wines and the hors d'ouvres of Williamsburg new-comer, Lodge. This tour marks the first of three such private tours being offered to Ch'i's premier collectors. For more information on any of the above events contact, director, Tracy Causey-Jeffery at 718 218 8939 or via email at tracy@qianartspace.com.

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