Holes, circles and tactile surfaces form a trinity of interest in these sculptural paintings by Holyoke artist Stephanie Gerolimatos on display in the East Gallery of the Northampton Center for the Arts October 5-29, 2010.

The artist will host an opening reception as part of Arts Night Out on Friday, October 8, 5-7pm.

Stephanie Gerolimatos loves the materials she uses to make art, and this exhibition reflects her eclectic nature. Cut, drawn and painted circles repeat and overlap to form playfully oscillating or quietly still compositions. Holes cut through textural paintings reveal soft velvet beneath. Fuzzy, neon-colored flocking fiber defines shapes on, in or beneath the surface. "Whether it's paint, wax, twine, nails, eggshells, feathers, or plexiglass, each is chosen for a particular sensory response it provides. Sometimes the response is due to visual cues. Often, it is the tactile quality of the substance or object that appeals to me.


"These sensations elicit associations and memories. The reaction is personal...Familiarity has the power to make us feel. It can bring comfort as easily as it can cause pain. My connections will be different from yours. My internal dialogue while making art is fluid, always changing. Some ideas I keep coming back to are precarious balance, loss, rebuilding and the unification of contrary elements. My work tends to be autobiographical, though not overtly so."

Stephanie "was born and mostly raised in the frozen Adirondacks, land of blackflies and buckshot. It was not a particularly good fit, " she notes. After earning an art degree and then "expending an absurd amount of time and energy on various terribly wrong things," she now makes art "in a fabulously cramped sun room studio in our awesomely rugged Holyoke home." Besides her own work, Stephanie makes art with neighborhood kids as part of KPAO! (say it kapow!) which stands for Kennedy Park Arts Outreach. Learn more about Stephanie on her website at www.stephg.org.

Regular gallery hours at the Center for the Arts are Tuesday through Friday, from 11a.m. to 4p.m.