Monmouth University presents “PAT CRESSON – Taking a Leap – The Power of the Natural World – 45 Years of Creative Work”



(WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ) — Monmouth University’s DiMattio Gallery presents PAT CRESSON Taking a Leap –The Power of the Natural World – 45 Years of Creative Work from September 5 through December 8, 2023.  This retrospective showis a combined visual statement of over 45 years of artmaking. It covers 21 different categories ranging from painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, and digital imaging to sculpture. CRESSON have always been interested in a broad range of art topics, styles and techniques and has followed her heart and not limited herself to just one or two topics, series or styles. The exhibit is free and open to the public, Mondays through Fridays 10:00am to 5:00pm.

Ancient cultures and architecture, botanicals, maps & ephemera, the landscape, weather systems and climate, insects, birds, Asian culture, kimonos, bonsai design, endangered species, marine life and the seashore – these are all topics that have interested her for many years and she returns again and again to them for inspiration. Using these as inspiration and metaphor her interest is also in the exploration of human interaction and the natural world – the navigation between what is hidden and what is revealed.

Recently she has concentrated her explorations into the connection between geometry and Nature. She has explored this by juxtaposing hard edge geometric design form, scientific illustrations, and pattern against organic landscape shapes, portions of sketches, and textured paint.

Many of the artist’s pieces combine drawing, type, painting, graphic design, digital imagery, and original photography. A majority of her prints and images over the years have reflected interests in nature and landscape, legend, myth, storytelling, and spirituality. They complement a 35-year interest in anthropology and archaeology with particular interest in the cultures of Egypt, Japan, China, South American Mayan and the Anastazi.

“Cresson has often taken a collage approach in her creative work and this is clear in both paintings and prints. In painting, the artist’s use of oils, wax, and mixed media enhances both the collage look of her work and her atmospheric approach to color. In printmaking, her use of chine-collé and the collograph process heightens the variety of textures and colors in her work. Whether one looks at the paintings and the prints on display here, or the drawings and digital images available on the artist’s website, there are opposing areas of abstract color, a wide array of textures and transparencies, and recognizable images (or in some cases, the vague suggestion of images). Color is one of the artist’s strengths, and her use of it ranges from the poetic to the dramatic. The paintings, which tend to be more abstract than the prints, contain some of her most ethereal color combinations. Line is another strength, especially in the prints that utilize the inherently linear process of intaglio etching.” — Dr. Kate Ogden, Professor of Art History, Stockton State University, NJ.

There will be an Opening Reception at DiMattio Gallery (400 Cedar Ave in West Long Branch, New Jersey) on Friday, September 22 from 5:00pm-8:00pm.

This work was supported, in part, by several Grant-in-Aid-for-Creativity awards and the Urban Coast Institute at Monmouth University.