Damini Celebre, Conversations with Land, 110 Church Gallery. Heron Walks / Wissahickon Park, Philadelphia, PA, milk paint, ink, pastel, pencil on wood panel, 4″ x 4″, Dark, / Wissahickon Park, Philadelphia, PA, milk paint, ink, pastel, pencil on vellum on wood panel, 4″ x 4″, Sound / Wissahickon Park, Philadelphia, PA, milk paint, ink, pastel, pencil on wood panel, 4″ x 4″ and Blue / Wissahickon Park, Philadelphia, PA, milk paint, ink, pastel, pencil, acrylic on wood panel, 4″ x 4″. $125.00 each (some are sold)
Damini Celebre, Conversations with Land: nature, mark-making and magic, 110 Church Gallery
“Conversations with Land is a new body of work by Damini Celebre. The gallery is dotted with tiny and small paintings on panels and one work constructed of four 24 x 24 inch panels. In these works she pulls the sky down into the same plane as the earth, and air swirls amid them. There is no up, no down — no representation — it is a spiritual universe. Undulating energy reveals itself in each mark. “Shamanic art is not a representation of healing it is powerful and profound healing power.” – Damini Celebre” – 110 Church Gallery website
“This body of work is influenced by my personal relationship with the Spirit that lives in all things. Listening deeply allows my mind to get out of the way; allowing me to reach a deeper place inside me, to feel and respond to Land. My direct emotional response and interaction with Land is what creates a mark. Relationships are built by an exchange of energy and respect. These paintings are honoring to Land – to the Space and to our relationship between the two. Healing happens when we remember, reconnect and balance our relations to the Spirit that lives in all things. This work is a prayer, an honoring, a blessing, an offering to the Web of Life. These paintings are healing artworks. They create a bridge, a relationship, between the viewer and the Land we live on bringing balance, joy and energy to life.” – Damini Celebre artist statement
110 Church Gallery is located on a narrow cobblestone street between 2nd Street and the Delaware River. As you wander down the alley you can see ships passing and cars racing by on I95. The jewel box gallery is the perfect place for Conversations with Land, a solo show by artist Damini Celebre. The mixed media art is a welcome burst of color to ward against these late Winter blues, immediately lifting spirits and soothing tired souls, like an elixir of magic marks. There is a mystical quality to the mixed media paintings that is subtle and mysterious. For example, many of the works wrap around the raised sides so there is no way to see the entire artwork at once causing the viewer to change position and take time to look, to see, to discover what’s around the corner. Many of the pieces are paired with found objects like rocks, feathers or wood that the artist collected near the spot she created the artwork adding a lovely accent of Nature and wilderness.
Damini Celebre, Conversations with Land, 110 Church Gallery, Rock, Princeton, NJ, milk paint, ink, pastel, pencil, vellum on wood, 2013, three 4″ x4″ panels, sold
Damini Celebre, Conversations with Land, 110 Church Gallery, Rock, Princeton, NJ, milk paint, ink, pastel, pencil, vellum on wood, 4″ x 4″, 2013, sold (one of three)
Damini Celebre chatted with visitors to the opening night February First Friday, the evening was frigid and icy on the stoney path to the gallery but the featured artist was beaming with enthusiasm and warmth.
“The paintings are shamanically based. You know? I really sit and get quiet and ask the spirit of the land and the energy to enter through me. So, it’s their marks, it’s their impressions that come through me. This one, in upstate New York in the Adirondack Mountains, there is a song from the bullfrogs and frog peepers that is like a symphony. I mean, I get goose bumps, that’s how powerful it is. It’s primordial in a way and they just start pulsing this thing as soon as the sun starts going down. At about 3:00 in the morning, they are at such a pitch and such a frequency, it’s like the Mother-ship is coming down.”
Damini Celebre, Conversations with Land, 110 Church Gallery, Luminary / Philadelphia, acrylic paint, ink, pastel, pencil on wood panel, 2013, 48” x 48”, $2,500.00
“I go out and when I’m standing on the deck it’s like magic. And all the stars! It’s in the middle of nowhere and it’s exquisite. And that’s the Night Song, these bullfrogs and peepers and other frogs just pulsing life. That’s the experience of it but it’s also about embryonic states, like, ‘What is the vibration that you’re trying to bring forth inside?’ And, ‘What seeds are you bringing forth?’ And, ‘What are you singing?’ Because the bullfrogs and peepers are singing.”
Damini Celebre, Conversations with Land, 110 Church Gallery, Deep Listening, milk paint, pastel, ink, pencil on wood cradle, 2013, 24″ x 24″, $750.00
“I’m on that land, so, I’ve been taking this in for days and finally I kind of stumble down, the land is a really steep slope, and I grabbed all my stuff. I could feel this pulsing of these songs. And that’s when it came out, it just came out. So, that’s what’s really important. It’s hard for me to create on demand, like, I really have to have the space talk to me. And, you know? It’s the vibration. What is the interaction between me and the land? Us and the land? That’s why I chose to put the offerings in because they often show up when I’m done the piece, I sit down and they’re right there. That’s a reminder that it’s all from the land, I’m just an instrument to the land. Stella calls me a ‘cosmic conduit’ but that’s what it is, it’s all just dropping down right through me.’ – Damini Celebre
Damini Celebre, Conversations with Land, 110 Church Gallery, Songs of the Night, Adirondack Mountains, New York, milk paint, ink, pastel, pencil on wood panel, 2013, 10” x 10″, sold.
Location: 110 Church Street, Philadelphia PA 19106, 267 871 9375
HOURS:
Thursday 1:30 – 6:30 pm
Friday 1:30 – 6:30 pm (except First Fridays, 5 – 8 pm)
Saturday Noon – 4 pm
other times by appointment
110 CHURCH | gallery exhibits new and unseen work by both emerging and established artists — fostering experimentation in contemporary art. Visit 110 Church Gallery in historic Old City, Philadelphia’s original and vibrant art district and one of America’s Top Twelve ArtPlaces. www. artplaceamerica.org.
Written and photographed by DoN Brewer except where noted.
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