ArtReach St. Croix is pleased to announce the first exhibition of 2017. Active Sensibilities is a three-person show that explores social and cultural textures as much the textures of the artists’ materials.  Questions of composition, order and chaos are explored through drawings on paper and through ceramics.

Ernest Gillman uses graphite and colored pencils in his work. Gilman draws scenes of home life, rural and urban spaces, and everyday artifacts. Time seems to freeze in these quiet depictions, with characters and objects framed in contemplative stillness.

Christopher Palbicki makes works on paper. His narrative-rich drawings depict characters experiencing heightened awareness and clarity. This interest stems from his explorations in daily meditation. The works featured at ArtReach are from his Insight Parables series, which “attempts to better understand the nature of life, death, personal identity, social responsibility, and our unbreakable collective relationship to each other and the planet as a whole.”

Mike Helke is a ceramic artist. His sculptural vessels, pouring pots, plates and tableware feature bright, bold marks and play with the relationships between two and three dimensions. Helke’s work draws on the relationship between maker, object and user. He seeks to physically and conceptually record an animate sensibility from his personal experience with each piece.