Thinking of Things Inside
Carl D’Alvia | Marcy Hermansader
August 21 - September 26 , 2021

Mother Gallery is pleased to present Thinking of Things Inside, an exhibition of works pairing sculpture made across the past six years, two new upholstered sculptures by Carl D’Alvia (b. 1965, Sleepy Hollow, NY) with new mixed media works on paper by Marcy Hermansader (b. 1951, Long Island, NY). Thinking of Things Inside runs from 21 August through 26 September 2021. Mother Gallery is located on the ground floor of 1154 North Avenue in Beacon, New York.

In Thinking of Things Inside, both artists present distinctions in the armor or surface language of their works; yet, each has a unified approach to dealing with chasm. By employing a process pattern that often pervades the surface of their work, D’Alvia and Hermansader mutually reveal and protect that which exists within.

D’Alvia’s anthropomorphic works employ imbricated all over patterns to cloak sculptural shapes, like lichen on rocks, containing an interior that refuses to be neatly defined. For Thinking of Things Inside, in addition to several former sculptures, D’Alvia presents his first soft exterior sculptures which conflate fine upholstery and monument into empathic, ensouled, domestic companions. In Love Seat, a larger than life size kernel seems to brace for impact while crouching in a fetal position, its many tufted buttons appear at once charming yet ominous—recalling porcupine quills. D’Alvia is deft at transmuting life’s immense prickles with a gentle humor, into works that communicate universal states of becoming.

Hermansader’s new mixed media works on black paper in Thinking of Things Inside, are renderings of personal states of being in and around her house in Vermont. Hermansader’s works reveal rather than eclipse the interior—inviting viewers in as a necessity—as lines are drawn and mended and darkness drifts. The works are composed by combining pencil, acrylic, foils, old postcards, fabrics, thread—diverse materials that disappear into exquisite narrative abstractions punctuated by islands of naturalistic renderings in colored pencil. In The Closet, a glowing closet filled with long sleeve shirts beckons—laying bare the immensity of a seemingly simple task. Cutting diagonally across the composition, Hermansader devoutly overlays cut strips of fabric, like raindrops falling, revealing that the idea of homage can also be altered.

-Paola Oxoa, August 2021

Carl D’Alvia (b. 1965 Sleepy Hollow, NY) is a sculptor that lives and works in Connecticut and New York. D’Alvia’s post-pop resin, bronze and marble sculptures range from the abstract and geometric to the figurative and anthropomorphic. The work often explores dichotomies such as minimal/ornate, industrial/handmade, and comic/tragic. D’Alvia won the Rome Prize in 2012. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions internationally including American Academy in Rome, Italy and The Rhode Island School of Design Museum in Providence, Rhode Island.

Marcy Hermansader (b. 1951 Long Island, NY) received a BFA from Philadelphia College of Art, studying with Cynthia Carlson, Ree Morton, Rafael Ferrer. She has had one person shows at Williams College Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania Academy of Art, and the DeCordova Museum among others. Hermansader has participated in over fifty group exhibitions including “Interfaces: Outsider Art and the Mainstream” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “The Drawn Page” at the Aldrich Museum, and “Curator’s Choice” at the Bronx Museum. Her work can be found in museum collections, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Bowdoin College Museum, and The Minneapolis Institute of Art.