Whispers in Form
October 14 – November 1
Artists:
Whispers in Form is a meditation on what cannot be said outright but can only be felt, intuited, or traced in silence. Here, form does not imitate the visible world but reveals the unseen memory’s echo, the rhythm of thought, the residue of feeling.
Each work offers a different register of this unspoken language. Some surge forward with boldness, charged and insistent, while others hover at the edge of quiet, inviting patience and stillness. Together they create a space where perception must lean closer, where meaning is not handed over but discovered in the act of looking.
This exhibition honors the intelligence of the eye and the mind’s capacity to listen beyond words. Abstraction, at its heart, is not absence but presence: a resonance that lingers, a murmur that deepens as we return to it. To stand before these works is to practice attention, to allow form itself to speak softly, urgently, and always anew.
Explore the Collection
CJ Cowden
Liz Angeles
Afsaneh Djabbari-Aslani
Vian Borchert
Carrie Elston
Ralph Pàquin
Mel Reese
Alex Z. Wang
Chip Calvin
More About the Works
Light Within II
by CJ Cowden
Light from Within II, captures the ethereal essence of a person’s spirit, rendered as a misty, luminous form against a backdrop of deep blue and black. The dark background represents the vast unknown, the infinite space that lies beyond physical existence, emphasizing the contrast between the corporeal world and the spiritual.
At the center of the piece is the silhouette of a human figure,dissolving into mist that swirls in delicate, flowing patterns. This mist radiates light, symbolizing the soul as an immortal, radiant presence that transcends the limitations of the body. The softness of the mist evokes a sense of fluidity and freedom, as if the spirit is gently rising or emerging from the confines of physical form, highlighting that we are more than the material vessels we inhabit.
Silence Between Marks
by CJ Cowden
Every gesture begins with a pause. Every line, every color, every trace carries within it the echo of what was not said. Silence Between Marks dwells in that fragile interval the moment between movement and stillness, intention and release.
Only Light
by CJ Cowden
In Only Light, form dissolves into radiance. A vase and its flowers emerge not through color but through the quiet play of sheen against matte presence revealed by the slightest shift in reflection. The work invites stillness, asking the viewer to see beyond contrast, to find depth within what appears empty. Here, gesture becomes breath, and light becomes voice. It is the whisper of form at its purest where even shadow has been surrendered to silence.
Without Darkness
by CJ Cowden
In Without Darkness, the whisper is nearly silent rendered in black upon
black, where light exists
only as reflection. The glossy flowers emerge from their matte ground like memory surfacing from shadow, fragile yet certain. Form becomes voice here, spoken through texture rather than hue. Within restraint, the work reveals
its quiet truth: that even in darkness, there is a language of grace, and that the faintest glimmer can hold the weight of all illumination.
Blurred Eden
by CJ Cowden
In Blurred Eden, color becomes memory lush, uncontained, and trembling at the edge of form. The flowers seem to waver between being and vanishing, their beauty diffused like a vision half-remembered. It is a paradise glimpsed through feeling rather than sight, where emotion takes the place of clarity and what is lost becomes luminous once more.
Moonlight Garden
by CJ Cowden
In Moonlight Garden, serenity takes shape in the quiet arc of a branch, the patient bloom of pale petals, and the stillness that lingers between light
and shadow. The composition breathes restraint—every curve and hue held in delicate balance. Within the language of form, it whispers of harmony and solitude, of the way beauty can emerge softly, without asking to be seen.
Calm Sea
by Vian Borchert
“Calm Sea” showcases noted artist Vian Borchert’s abstract interpretation of a serene ocean scene. Through expressive yet minimal brushwork, Borchert blends deep and soft shades of blue with subtle white and pink highlights, inviting a moment of calm and contemplation. Often describing her work as “visual poetry,” Borchert weaves emotion and nature into her compositions. This piece embodies her reverence for the natural world, particularly her fascination with water and its meditative qualities. “Calm Sea” has been featured in various publications, including SHOUTOUT LA, affirming Borchert’s ongoing influence in contemporary abstract art.
Light by the Cliff
by Vian Borchert
“Light by the Cliff” by accomplished artist Vian Borchert celebrates the power of natural light and its role in both life and art. Known for her abstract expressionist style, Borchert captures the reflective beauty of sunlight especially at sunrise, drawing from her deep connection to nature and voyages by the sea. The cliff, rendered in bold tones, symbolizes life’s challenges, while the light represents hope that one must strive towards. Through abstraction, Borchert transforms the landscape into a poetic metaphor for the human journey.
Eclipsing Radiance
by Alex Z. Wang
Eclipsing Radiance is alive with shifting waves of color. Warm reds, yellows, and pinks glow against cool blues and violets, creating the feeling of light breaking through darkness. The vertical composition gives it a sense of ascension, like energy rising or a flame flickering skyward. It’s a piece about movement and emotion — one that changes as you look at it, drawing you into its luminous atmosphere.
Breath Between Shadows
by Alex Z. Wang
Breath Between Shadows captures the stillness of twilight, when the world hovers between fading light and deepening night. Layers of indigo, cobalt, and violet drift across the surface like mist, creating a meditative field of color. The painting holds a quiet pulse, inviting viewers to slow down and breathe with its calm, atmospheric presence.
Under the Ocean and Deep Ocean
Afsaneh Djabbari-Aslani
My inspiration for these series came from my fascination with the life under the sea. A life long lover of the ocean I had the opportunity to go to the Great Barrier Reef. The reefs were truly magnificent and actually the closer to the surface the colors of the reefs and everything living in between were vibrant and exceptionally lit by the sun. As we swam deeper without the sunlight and for the lack of artificial lighting it was more difficult to distinguish the shapes and it became more abstract. As an avid gardener I drew a lot of parallels between the coral reefs and the gardens in full bloom with the varied shapes, colors and textures.
Morpheus
by Ralph Pàquin
Morpheus, who’s Greek name means “god of dreams” is
part an ongoing sculptural series entitled: Genes and Chromosomes. This series consists of meticulously fabricated organomorphic forms. They are anecdotal considerations of the human enigma and its physical and spiritual connections to more primordial forms of life. As with many things, there are secondary concepts lie beneath the surface, stemming from a cocktail of diverse interests, including: composed sound- forms, philosophy, faith, cosmology, and biotechnology.
Ultra Gene
by Ralph Pàquin
Ultra Gene is a playfully animated sculpture that is part of an ongoing sculptural series entitled Genes and Chromosomes
PsychoKnotic
by Ralph Pàquin
PsychoKnotic is part of the sculptural series entitled: Genes and Chromosomes which consist of meticulously fabricated organomorphic forms. They are anecdotal considerations of the human enigma and its physical and spiritual connections to more primordial forms of life. As with many things, there are secondary concepts lie beneath the surface, stemming from a cocktail of diverse interests, including: composed sound, philosophy, faith, cosmology, and biotechnology.
Nebulous
by Ralph Pàquin
Nebulous is part of a newer group of sculptures that is part of the “Ethereal Origins” series. It attempts to sculpturally and conceptually connect biomorphic primordial forms to those that are more celestial in nature.
More About Our Artists
CJ Cowden
Artist Statment and Bio
As a mixed media artist, CJ explores the boundaries of form, texture, and color through abstract compositions. CJ’s work is a dialogue between spontaneity and intention, where different materials and techniques come together to create layered, dynamic pieces. CJ aims to evoke emotion and provoke thought, encouraging viewers to find their own connections and interpretations within the abstract forms. Through this process, CJ seeks to capture the essence of creativity—unpredictable, complex, and endlessly evolving.
CJ’s artistic journey is a testament to the transformative power of creativity in the face of adversity. Born into the whirlwind world of a traveling evangelist, she spent her formative years on the road, bearing witness to the fervor and devotion of her parents’ mission.
After her parents passing at age 10, CJ navigated her new life in foster care with art as it allowed her to express her depth of emotions. Today, CJ stands as a testament to resilience and the enduring human spirit. She has transcended her humble beginnings to become a gallery owner, a curator of dreams, and an artist of international acclaim. CJ’s journey from troubling childhood to a globally recognized artist and gallery owner reminds us that even in the darkest of circumstances, creativity has the power to heal and transform lives.
Mel Reese
Artist Statment
Artist Bio
Melanie Reese is an abstract formalist painter based in Brooklyn. Her work lives between the familiar and the intangible. Rooted in imagined landscapes, she traces the contours of land, body, and mind to conjure the ephemeral immediacy and precipitous nature of existing in today’s socio-political climate.
A reflection of the times we find ourselves in, these paintings tell a tale of the battle between progress and destruction. Each painting carries a beautiful fragility illuminated by a looming darkness; like at any moment the landscape might split open and swallow the viewer whole. Reese utilizes an array of painting and drawing media such as acrylic paint, caran d’ache,
and oil pigment sticks. Manipulation of each material creates a variety of textures, depths, and complex visual moments that combine to create a quiet yet ominous composition.
Her works are a complex dichotomy precariously poised between the human experience and our crumbling world, held together in search of beauty.
Reese (b. 1991) is an abstract formalist painter based in Brooklyn. She holds an MFA from
SVA and a BS from Skidmore College. She has completed Artist-in-Residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Elsewhere Studios, and JX Farms. Reese has recently shown in Affordable Art Fair NYC with Warnes Contemporary and will be at CONTEXT Art Fair Miami with Sims Contemporary. She has exhibited widely throughout the United States including Warnes Contemporary Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Collar Works (Troy, NY), Deanna Evans Projects TROVE (online), and THE GALLERY by Odo (NYC) and has been featured in several publications including New American Paintings Northeast Issue 134, New American Painting Featured Artists, Inside Artists, Studio Visit Magazine, and New Visionary Magazine.
Afsaneh Djabbari-Aslani
Artist Statement and Bio
Iranian born artist Afsaneh Djabbari-Aslani attended USC’s Roski School of Art and Design, at the onset of the Iran’s Islamic Revolution. The upheaval in her native country culminating with the US Embassy hostage crisis dramatically transformed her world, with significant influence on her artistic work.
After earning her BFA and BA in French language and literature she moved to New York City in 1983. After working at a NYC based gallery she decided to change direction in her career and started working at the United Nations Development Program, in the Public Affairs Division, where she learned more about the plight of third world countries and their socio-economic issues. She also earned her Master’s Degree from NYU’s Robert Wagner School of Public Service while working full time at UNDP. Her painting Working Towards a Brighter World was published as a Holiday Card by UNDP and sent out worldwide in 1989.
In 1992, she started working for Barnard College, Columbia University as Associate Financial Aid Director and Higher Education Opportunity Program Financial Aid Director. Working with the State and Federal agencies and struggling families to further educate their children was a rewarding and eye opening experience. A valuable experience which has shaped her life in more ways than one.
With the birth of her second child, Afsaneh moved to New Canaan, CT and became an active volunteer in the community and a volunteer Art History teacher and substitute art teacher at the public school systems. This reconnected her with her passion for the arts and she started painting again in 2009.
Afsaneh says she never finds art relaxing:”It is a very active emotion for me.” She is very responsive to issues in the world: choosing a self-portrait from 1982, she writes:”I had hoped that four decades later I would look at this and put it away as part of my history, where politics, religion and sexism would be resolved and I would not feel this trapped. Unfortunately, politics, inequality, sexism and misogynistic behavior continues with all its trappings in a imbalanced world.”
Afsaneh says that as an older artist and mother of three, she has learned to channel her feelings in more positive ways. For example by donating her work to her favorite charity to raise funds to help war effected children in the Middle East.
Afsaneh’s approach to painting is very eclectic and covers a range of topics. “My approach to painting is same as my approach to food. I need variety. It needs to be colorful and pleasing to the eye. Even my political paintings are bold in color and texture. I like to paint still life because although predictable, it forces me to make an ordinary object more extraordinary by bringing attention to it through bold colors, textures and lines. At times I push the limits of my imagination, however, there are times when I just paint what is already there and let the simple beauty speak for itself. I don’t eat the same thing every day, and I don’t feel the same way every day, and for that reason I don’t limit my palette with just one approach or style. I have learned to be conscious of my surroundings in color and shapes, and to bring what I see or at times what I feel to my canvas.” Bright colors, light, water, texture and reflections are integral part of Afsaneh’s work, tracing back to her Persian roots, where color and decorative art is part of its rich history. Afsaneh was a Board Member at New Canaan Art Society and Standing Together Against Racism. She continues to be a member of Loft Artist Association, Fairfield County Cultural Alliance and Greenwich Art Society, where she shows her work several times a year.
Liz Angeles
Artist Statement and Bio
Liz Angeles es una artista peruana autodidacta que se dedica a hacer eventos desde hace mas de veinte años, concibiendo ambientaciones efímeras a partir de elementos escenográficos. Durante la pandemia, se dedicó a pintar elementos cotidianos que la rodean, su
trabajo evoluciona rápidamente después de los acontecimientos vividos en ese periodo y comienza a pintar una serie titulada “Resiliencia mágica” inspirada en sus recuerdos de infancia en la selva amazónica de la cual proviene su madre, las historias mágicas que ella le contaba de niña, los árboles y los pájaros se transfieren a su pintura llena de color y de trazos libres, ésta exposición fue realizada en Ginebra, Suiza vendiendo todos los cuadros en un día. A su retorno a Lima sigue pintando ya en otra etapa donde experimenta muchos cambios,
la vida cotidiana, los profundos sentimientos de recuerdos, los deseos de encontrar La Paz en medio de situaciones del país y de la vida misma. A toda esa mezcla de emociones llenas de color trasladadas a los lienzos ella los titula : “Mapa del Alma” . Luego explora los sentimientos vividos en la época del terrorismo donde muchos peruanos tienen que partir a otros países buscando mejorar la vida, tres de sus hermanos se separan de ella y a esta serie la titula “DISTANCIAS”.
English:
Liz Angeles is a self-taught Peruvian artist who has been creating events for over twenty years, creating ephemeral settings based on stage elements.
During the pandemic, she dedicated herself to painting everyday elements that surround her. Her work evolved rapidly after the events of that period, and she began painting a series titled “Magical Resilience,” inspired by her childhood memories in the Amazon rainforest where her mother comes from. The magical stories her mother told her as a child, the trees and birds, are transferred to her paintings full of color and free strokes. This exhibition was held in Geneva, Switzerland, selling all the paintings in one day. Upon her return to Lima, she continued painting, now in another phase where she experienced many changes: daily life, the deep feelings of memories, the desire to find peace amidst the situations of the country and of life itself. She titled this whole mix of colorful emotions transferred to her canvases: “Map of the Soul.” She then explores the feelings experienced during the era of terrorism, when many Peruvians had to leave for other countries seeking a better life. Three of her siblings separated from her, and she titled this series “DISTANCES.”
Vian Borchert
Artist Statement and Bio
I am an expressionist artist, I consider all my work to be visual poems.
Art for me is a universal language by which all comprehend. I aim to connect with people through my visual world and through my vision aspiring for the world to come together through the arts. Moreover, nature plays a huge part in my artistic journey. I am an avid nature observer where contemplating upon nature helps me reach inner peace and attain moments of Zen.
My artwork albeit abstract in nature offers symbolism referencing the status of a mysterious future. To add, my art showcases a sense of identity of who I am as an artist: my hopes and dreams. Furthermore, my works intend to evoke the feelings of rejuvenation achieved through the love for nature and its endless bounty that it bestows upon humanity. Hence, nature is not only a place for me to meditate upon, but it also energizes and empowers me to give back to the world through my creative vision, talent and aesthetics. Consequently, my art becomes a reflection of my life’s journey along with connecting the past to the present while approaching the future with a sense of wonder to what it holds.
Vian Borchert is a renowned established contemporary artist, along being an award winning poet. Borchert has exhibited her artwork within the USA and internationally in over 100 exhibitions in both group and solo shows worldwide. Vian is a graduate and “Notable Alumni” from the Corcoran College of Art and Design George Washington University, Washington, DC. Borchert exhibits in museums, and key galleries in major cities, and her work is sought after by art collectors and is in private collections worldwide.
Borchert describes her art as a form of visual poetry. For Borchert, her paintings are not just artwork, they are an experience and a dialogue between one’s humanity, the art of painting and nature which is a source of inspiration for the artist.
V. Borchert is an acclaimed artist with a significant international presence.
Borchert’s work has been exhibited in major cities such as: NYC, Paris, Washington DC, LA, London, and Berlin, and in prestigious venues such as the Louvre museum's Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, and in Times Square on Broadway in NYC, the United Nations in NYC, the SAM Museum in PA, The National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, and the Medinaceli DeArte Museum Contemporáneo in Spain, and Musée de Peinture de Saint-Frajou in France, and the Venice Biennale. A graduate and "Notable Alumni" from the Corcoran College of Art & Design George Washington University, Washington DC, Borchert’s art has been featured in over 100 publications, in many features + interviews, including Museum Week Magazine, GOSS Magazine, Arts & Investments, and The Washington Post. Borchert also serves as the Art Lead/curator for the "Oxford Public Philosophy" Journal, based at Oxford University, UK. She is also an art writer/critic and contributor to an online newspaper. Borchert gets called upon by major American museums for coverage and writing reviews about their retrospectives such as the Rubell museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in DC. Moreover, Borchert has worked as a community convener with cultural outreach for the Arts and Humanities Council within her community, and has a certificate in Art Therapy. In addition, Borchert is involved in teaching and art curation. Vian is an art educator teaching fine art classes to adults for two decades in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Borchert is recognized for her writing and philosophies on art along with pioneering intellectual thought and creativity in the art world. Besides having her artwork exhibited in key galleries, her paintings can be acquired through "1stDibs", "Artsper", "Zatista", "Artsy", which are the world's leading marketplace of best galleries and museums.
Carrie Elston
Artist Statment
Artist Bio
My work explores the interior space of abstract feeling and thinking, when the mind wanders. I am also interested in the defense mechanism of “undoing” - when we do things and then go back on them, attempting to cancel or reverse them by engaging in opposite or contrary behaviors. These works inhabit the space between physical actions and the psychological effort to undo those already complete and irreversible actions, through the continued removal and covering
up of paint. Using gestural movement and saturated compositions of bright color, blunt mark-making, and erasure, there is a passage of time implicit in the working of the paint, which is built up and then excavated, revealing buried color and form. The layering is reflective of an emotional excavation, in which memories are built up over time, become calcified, and are later uncovered, and exposed.
In recent years I came back to painting after a long time away from it, having gone through major personal upheaval. Facing a very different version of my life than the one I had known, I found that I had to become reacquainted with myself. I had to go beneath my own layers of artifice that had built up over the years in order to really recognize myself, and form my own intention.
Carrie has worked as an artist in New York for twenty years, focusing most recently on abstract painting. Her work is loose and gestural, with saturated compositions of bright color, blunt mark-making, and erasure. The layering implicit in her process is reflective of an emotional excavation, in which feelings and memories are built up over time, calcified, and later broken down. Carrie was awarded the New York Art Marathon Prize, a curatorial grant from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and a BRIC Media Arts Fellowship. She has held residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Bronx Museum, NARS Foundation, Artists Alliance, and the Sharpe Walentas Studio Program. Carrie also works as an arts administrator, as the Director of Institutional Advancement for the Grammy-nominated choral ensemble, Voices of Ascension. She is the President of the Prospect Hill Foundation, and serves on the Advisory Board to the New York Philharmonic, the board of the Third Street Music School Settlement, and the Hunter Art Advisory Board. She received her B.A. from Yale University and M.F.A. from Hunter College. Carrie lives and works in the Bronx with her family.
Alex Z. Wang
Artist Statment and Bio
Colors drift and collide like light in motion, capturing shadows and emotions as they pass. My paintings are quiet thresholds—spaces where stillness, reflection, and escape can unfold. Across oil, ink, and lens, I search for the fleeting made visible, moments suspended long enough to be felt anew.
I am drawn to the tension between permanence and impermanence. A brushstroke can hold energy long after it is made, yet the feeling it conveys may be unstable, evolving, or even contradictory. Through layered color, scraping, and transparency, I seek to reveal what is concealed, to embody the unseen forces that shape us.
Ultimately, my practice is an attempt to make motion tangible, to hold on to the intangible pulse of human experience. Each painting is both an object and a record of rhythm—a field where color and emotion collide.
Ralph Pàquin
Artist Statment and Bio
From an early age, I was captivated by the intricacies of human biology and genetics—an initial curiosity that evolved into a broader investigation of human origin and consciousness. This exploration has expanded to include cosmology, archeology, mysticism, and belief systems. These fields, combined with lived experience, form a kind of visual encyclopedia that fuels my creative output.
My work draws from observation, imagination, and experimentation. Mysticism and natural phenomena influence my abstracted forms, while humor often shapes layered metaphors. Whether rooted in complex concepts or intuitive impulses, my approach is intentional, dimensional, and rigorously crafted.
I work with a wide range of materials and techniques, from spontaneous “free form” sculpting to intricate, multi-step cold casting. Each sculpture is fabricated using traditional and contemporary methods, with materials selected for their durability, flexibility, and expressive potential.
My artworks serve as philosophical vessels—bridging the tangible and the cosmic, the seen and the unseen. They invite viewers to reflect on the mysteries of existence, the intersections of art and science, and the invisible structures that shape our reality.