Personal Mythologies: Creative Narratives in Art

A visionary art exhibit inspired by dreams, stories, traditions & memories featuring more than 30 works by artists Peter Bernal, Alana Carlson, John Finazzo, Linden Godlove, Anita Schmaltz & John Wood.
 
Hatch Art, 3456 Evaline Street, Hamtramck, MI 48212.
Open Wednsdays,6-9pm and Saturdays, 12-6pm. 
The exhibit runs through Saturday, July 27.
 
Artist talk & workshop Wednesday, July 17, 6-9 pm.

"The Call" by Linden Godlove

"Thought and Memory" by Alana Carlson

​Personal Mythologies is a multimedia exhibition of Metro Detroit artists that invites participants to enter a space of invented tales, surreal imaginings, and fantastic places. Some works are drawing on ancient characters and symbols, and others are newly imagined tales. All connect with the artists’ own narratives, yet guests may find their own stories reflected in the artists’ work. “Art has the ability to cross barriers of time, place, and language,” says John Wood. “My hope is that my artwork can create a bridge connecting people and ideas.”
“I call my art a portal, a reconstructed doorway to something beyond itself,” comments Anita Schmaltz, “my struggles, my epiphanies, manifesting not as they are, but as they may be seen by dream, or by the eyes of Spirit. They often appear as apparitions, then they nag at me until the moment they’re able to come to life in my hands.”
 
Peter Bernal draws inspiration from a lifelong exposure to votive painting – religious folk art from Mexico. “I’m translating it now into pure surrealism in my present worldview, claiming it away from a tradition to make it new.”
 
Linden Godlove and John Finazzo bring works from their wedding ceremony that are inspired by the elements, earth, air, water, and fire. Godlove finds that paintings give substance to stories and ideas she cannot put into words.
Alana Carlson interprets her experience with her family’s Alzheimer’s and the elusiveness of memory to create symbolic paintings and unreadable books. “The way my mother's Alzheimer’s presents itself is language-based. She has trouble finding words when she needs them.”
“Come see the stories,” says curator Linden Godlove. “They are not always made of words.” Viewers are certain to be entranced by the exhibit.
Peter Bernal, Linden Godlove and Anita Schmaltz have artist’s studios at 333 Midland, a converted factory in Highland Park. 

"Joanne Sleeping With Monsters" - Anita Schmaltz

Detail of Art by John Finazzo

Drawing by John Wood