SUNY Adirondack Visual Arts Gallery

Russell Serrianne Natural Line

The Visual Arts Gallery will be closed for the spring 2021 semester.

Artist's Statement

I am captivated by the energized line naturally found in the strength and determination of the vine tendril. I use the vine tendril as my drawing tool, as my mark, as 3-dimensional line. My process centers around the selection of individual tendrils, each having a complex simplicity… which once interwoven create a fluid shape, variations in density, a composition.

In making these works I am interested in creating a visual interplay within what is natural and when applied out of context creates pause for re-examination.

Magnification Lignum Vitae, 2015, vine tendrils, clear shellac surface on paper

A Conversation with the Artist

Where do the vines come from?  I am an avid walker…and “harvest” wild grape vine tendrils most often in the late summer and fall on the fringes of paths and trails locally and in the southern Adirondacks. 

How do you choose the vines?   I consider my work as three-dimensional line drawing and therefore I am consciously aware of line weight, thickness, and directional twist. How will I use it - thick for density, thin and wistful detail accents, or tonal value? Most often a tendril will rest on 3 to 4 points of contact with the paper, allowing for the interconnecting and blending of multiple pieces of tendrils.

How did you start using vines? What was the progression of art materials?  Prior to creating my first works I had been collecting tendrils purely out of a fascination for what they are when standing alone, out of context, separated from their original intent: a force of nature, created by searching for light. One day I noticed the shadows cast by the tendrils resting on my windowsill, projecting a flat line beneath the sculptural shapes – the two creating a single image. I then began to position multiple pieces in compositional form. To preserve this natural plant material from decomposing, the individual tendrils are treated with clear shellac - enhancing the line and also subtly introducing a conflicting perception of manmade vs natural material triggering pause for re-examination.  

What do the patterns represent?   Early works were extensions of my interest in early Japanese calligraphic compositions - swift gestural shapes flowing vertically and horizontally as from a brush. Departing from this original point, I began to use the medium to create a range of more specific directional movements, fractal pattern repetition, overlapping shapes and interactions within the compositions.  Rhythmic spaces reacting to linear marks, a conversation within, an independent flow within an energized pattern or form. The illusion of energy, of space and motion, density, and permeability – these themes are at work. I am motivated by the challenge of composition, as each work takes up and builds on the themes and the new unanswered questions posed by the last. 

About Russell

Albany Institute of History and Art Purchase Award 2016 Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region 

Education  

• 1975 SUNY Plattsburgh, NY
• 1973 Center for Music, Drama & Art, Lake Placid, NY
• 1971 New School of Art, Toronto, Ontario

View his website

russell@russellserrianne.com

Solo Exhibitions

• 2021 Russell Serrianne - Natural Line, SUNY Adirondack, Queensbury, NY
• 2021 Russell Serrianne, Broome County Arts Center, Binghamton, NY
• 2015 Russell Serrianne – Natural Line, Christine Price Gallery, Castleton University, Castleton, VT
• 2013 Russell Serrianne Solo Exhibition, Cary House Gallery – Salem Art Works, Salem, NY
• 2011 Russell Serrianne: Vine Tendrils – Assemblage & Drawings, Gallery 7444, Saranac Lake, NY

Exhibitions

• 2019 Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Regional 2019, Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY
• 2019 Serrianne, Porter and Welych, Broome County Arts Center, Binghamton, NY
• 2019 Made in NY 2019 Exhibition, Swchweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY
• 2018 International Juried 2018 Exhibition, Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ
• 2018 Kulturamt Bodenseekreis/Historische Bibliothek (Salem2Salem), Salem, Germany 
• 2018 7th Annual Upstate Artists Juried Exhibition, Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville, NY
• 2018 Works on Paper 2018 - Brattleboro Museum, Brattleboro, Vermont 
• 2018 Between the Lines – Nowak, Piazza, Schultz and Serrianne – Albany Center Gallery, Albany, NY 
• 2018 Made in New York 2018 – Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY
• 2017 Salem2Salem – Artists Residency Exhibition, Salem Art Works, Salem, New York
• 2017 New Acquisitions – New to the Collection, Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, New York
• 2017 Barry Lobdell & Russell Serrianne – A Study in Contrast, The View Arts Center, Old Forge, NY
• 2016/2017 Layers Levels Lines – Cannamela, Serrianne & Silvious, Woodstock Art Exchange, W.Hurley, NY
• 2016 Upstate Artists Invitational -Diggory, Medina & Serrianne, Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville, NY
• 2016 Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Regional 2016, Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY Albany Institute of History and Art Purchase Award
• 2016 Made in NY 2016, Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY
• 2016 Russell Serrianne and Harry Orlyk, Giant Mountain Gallery, Schroon Lake, NY
• 2016 Betsy Brandt, Russell Serrianne, Delores Tompson & Laura Von Rosk, Factory Gallery, Glens Falls                
• 2015 Upstate Artists, Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville, NY
• 2015 Fiber Currents, Parrella Gallery, Fulton Montgomery Community College, Johnstown, NY
• 2015 A Study in Contrast – Lobdell and Serrianne, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Lake Placid , NY
• 2014 Upstate Artists, Laffer Gallery, Schuylerville, NY
• 2014 Ariana Kolins & Russell Serrianne, Courthouse Gallery, Lake George Arts Project,Lake George, NY
• 2014 2014 Adirondack Juried Show, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Lake Placid, NY
• 2013 Small Works, Best of Show Award – Erin Coe, jurist, Shirt Factory Gallery, Glens Falls, NY

Image checklist:

• Anza, 2010, vine tendrils with clear shellac surface, gouache, ginwashi paper                            
• (Anza) Concealing, 2018, vine tendrils, clear shellac on paper                                                 
• Anza II, 2011, vine tendril, clear shellac surface, gouache, ginwashi paper                    
• Bridge, vine tendrils on branch, McLaughlin Photography                                            
• Continuum, 2019, vine tendrils, clear shellac on paper                                                
• Conversation, 2013, Vine tendrils, clear shellac, copper shavings on paper              
• Discedente, 2011, vine tendrils, shellac                                                                                             
• Evening 2B, 2015, vine tendrils, clear shellac, paint on paper                                                
• Flusso di viticci, 2017, vine tendril, clear shellac on pape                                                            
• Flusso di Viticci II, 2018, vine tendrils, clear shellac surface on paper
• Magnification Lignum Vitae, 2015, vine tendrils, clear shellac surface on paper               
• Offshore, 2015, vine tendrils, shellac, paint on paper                                                                 
• Poem, 2011, vine tendrils with clear shellac surface, gouache, ginwashi paper            
• Precipitation, 2011, vine tendrils on ginwashi paper                                                                           
• R…., 2018, walnut ink
• Returning Home, 2011, vine tendrils,  clear shellac, gouache, ginwashi paper
• Study, pencil on paper
• Tendril 029, (detail), 2009, clear shellac on paper
• Tendril 0508, 2015, vine tendrils, clear shellac on paper
• Variations on a Crimson Theme, 2014, vine tendrils, clear shellac surface, Albany Institute of History and Art Collection
• Weep, 2012, vine tendrils on clear shellac surface

Questions for further inquiry

Consider:  

1. Can you apply the Principles of Design and Elements of Art to the work? E.g. - balance, movement, harmony, texture, line, pattern

2. What emotions do certain patterns evoke in you?

3. What do Russell Serrianne’s 3-Dimensional lines convey to you? 

4. Can you find or identify other patterns found in natural objects? 

5. View the links below to discover connections between Art (such as Russell Serrianne’s), Science and Mathematics:

• Is God a Mathematician? Fractal Geometry of Nature
• Why are fractals so soothing?

The Visual Arts Gallery at SUNY Adirondack exhibits a variety of themes, styles and techniques from local artists and international artist that are of recent and historical significance. The gallery upholds a high professional standard when selecting work for exhibits due to the multidisciplinary nature it services on the campus.  Exhibits are coordinated with the educational goals of the college and are interpreted through lectures by artists and faculty as well as brochures and pamphlets.  The gallery space is regularly utilized as an intimate space for meetings, small receptions, class meetings, lectures, Writer’s Project poetry readings, musical concerts and the Annual Student Art Exhibition. 

For more information contact:
Rebecca Pelchar, Director
pelcharr@sunyacc.edu
518.832.7738

Look around the hallways, library and offices on campus, and you will find artistic inspiration.

The SUNY Adirondack Art Collection began in 1999 with a gift of 150 pieces from the estate of poet William Bronk of Hudson Falls and now has more than 1,000 works of art by more than 300 local, national and international artists. The diverse work represents artists from the United States, Canada, Cuba, Italy, Greece, France, Czech Republic, Japan and Russia. Artistic mediums include paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints, photography and mixed-media. 

The collection also includes a selection of broadsides by selected American poets.

The Visual Arts Gallery, located in Dearlove Hall since 1984, schedules a variety of exhibitions throughout the year that emphasize creativity, vision and imagination  Included are group and solo shows by artists of local, national and international reputation. Each exhibition includes an informative and interpretive brochure. A juried exhibition of student art takes place at the end of the Spring Semester.

The Visual Arts Gallery offers a chance for students to become exposed to the works of artists from within, as well as outside of, the Lower Adirondack and Capital Regions. Receptions, musical performances, lectures and formal dialogs provide the opportunity for the sharing of ideas, opinions and responses that feed a sense of community as well as provide a link for the student to what lies beyond the academic life.

SUNY Adirondack’s Theatre and Music programs offer rich and diverse programming unexpected at a community college.

The Theatre department is known for its professional-level productions of bold and innovative plays. Past productions have included D.W. Gregory’s “Radium Girls,” a true story of the women factory workers who fell ill from exposure to radioactive paint, and Moises Kaufman’s “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later,” a drama tracking the hate crime murder of openly gay student Matthew Shepard.

Catch musical performances each semester by the college’s talented faculty and staff, including vocal concerts, instrumental recitals and jazz sessions.