FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Danielle Lanteigne
 Phone: 954.563.2993
Email: lechevitrinesart@mac.com

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE,
Creating a ‘sensory’ experience

Featuring the artwork of New York City artist CARLA E. REYES,
Miami artist KATIUSKA GONZALEZ and
Fort Lauderdale artist LENA LUCKEY

to be exhibited at
LECHE-VITRINES ART ALLIANCE
OCTOBER 11-NOVEMBER 3, 2007


OPENING RECEPTION, OCTOBER 13, 2007, 7:00-10:00PM. All artists will be in attendance.

September 18, 2007, Ft. Lauderdale – Scratching the Surface, an exhibition of over 40 new works by 3 female artists will be on view at Leche-Vitrines Art Alliance from October 11 through November 3, 2007. Ranging in size from 5″ x 7″ to 5′ x 5′, the entire exhibition of mixed media work is primarily on canvas, some work constructed on cork, stone or wood panels. Although each artist explores different concepts and themes, they all share the expression of their ideas through the creation of highly textural and complex surfaces. The artists also choose unique and unconventional materials to create intricately sculptural surfaces, taking two-dimensional works into the realm of three dimensions, from the purely visual to the tangible and sensual. Materials as diverse as gauze, sand, rocks, gravel, dirt, furniture paste, glue, Popsicle sticks and toothpicks are incorporated within their paintings, creating a visceral, and sensory experience during art making, and for viewers. By combining natural materials into (wo)man-made works, using canvases with earthy palettes and touchable surfaces, these works evoke a deeper nature. Though preconceived in the artists’ imaginations, the works appear organic and uncontrived. Each artist is presenting an individual series of works; while all using nature, in motif and substance, to unearth deep, spiritual, and collective feelings from within.

Artist Carla E. Reyes talks about her work and also accurately describes the common theme of the Scratching the Surface exhibition, “My work is about the basic need to create and using the senses we are given to mirror and interpret the world around us and express our unconscious- to leave something tangible behind to know we are real and that what we experience has substance and a context. The natural elements are used as a way to physically connect with our purest origin- which is nature. Sometimes being reconnected with nature- however contrived or limited can bring us back to who we really are in a primal way. The textures allow for a more sensual experience for the artist and the viewer- encouraging the use of all the senses through feel, touch, depth, as well as visual absorption. We only know we exist through our sensory experiences.”

Leche-Vitrines Art Alliance is located at 3038 North Federal Highway, Times Square Design Plaza, Building F, 2nd floor, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33306 (Southeast corner of Federal Highway (US 1) and Oakland Park Blvd). Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday, 11am-7pm. Sunday and evening hours are available by appointment. For more information on an individual artist or artwork images, please contact gallery owner and director Danielle Lanteigne at T: 954.563.2993/ F: 954.563.5658/ email: lechevitrinesart@mac.com/
web: www.lechevitrinesart.com.

The exhibition is on display from October 11 through November 3, 2007. The opening reception is October 13, 7-10pm. All artists will be in attendance. All events are free and open to the public.

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Carla E. Reyes. Born and currently living in New York City. Carla E. Reyes is a painter and mixed media collage artist who creates low relief, sculptural and textural paintings. She is interested in the process of art making as a primitive and visceral experience. She is visually inspired by the colors and textures of nature, early works of art and decoration, and the interaction between natural and man-made surfaces. Through texture, abstract form, and image, she explores and alludes to the fundamental elements and mysteries of nature and existence: impermanence, decay, regeneration, birth, growth, history, archeology and spirituality. Collage materials may include branches, leaves, sand, and pebbles. She enjoys working on the floor; creating a more physical interaction with the work, and also builds her own handmade shaped canvases. Carla has been exhibiting her artwork professionally in and around the NYC area since 1999. She graduated from F.I.T., NYC, in 2002 with a BFA in Restoration and an AAS in Fine Arts.


In Scratching the Surface, Carla is presenting work from her “Texture Garden” series. Texture Garden is an exploration of the interaction between man-made elements and nature. The work represents natural motifs, forms and textures found in gardens, interpretations of Zen rock gardens to decorative architectural details to plant forms, all created using combinations of natural and man-made. They are textural snapshot of processes taking place, from growth to decay, all frozen in time.

Miami artist, Katiuska Gonzalez. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, currently living in Miami, FL. Although she received her degree in Civil Engineering from Santa Maria University, Katiuska has always been involved in the arts. She participated in the Art Fair of “El Ateneo Cultural de Caracas” and the Cultural Foundation “Nelson Sanchez Chapellin”. After college she traveled extensively throughout Europe and South America and has lived in cities such as Paris, Myconos, Pica de Buenos Aires, and San Francisco. Currently, Katiuska is closely studying painting with master Cuban painter Baruj Salinas and has been exhibiting in Miami steadily since 2005.

In Scratching the Surface, Katiuska is presenting work from her series of houses and villages titled “Where Memories Live”. The artist says, “This refers to a place built by hopes, dreams, emotions, feelings -a place where our internal and most intimate roots take hold and the leaves of memories become witnesses of life itself.” This reflection prompts her to think of her grandparents and the place where they are from: The Venezuelan Andes, according to the artist, “A place full of nice little houses, and even nicer people, with small villages here and there.” Images of many different places, countries, and cultures where she has lived and visited make up the collection of important memories Katiuska draws on when creating her art. “In my internal home, that warm and cozy space that I carry with me everywhere I go, the memories of all the people that have nurtured my spirit, and have formed the roots that gave me life and ongoing support are still there.” Painting for her is an attempt to express spiritual metaphors. An internal outreach of that very pure essence that is believed to be in all of us, which senses and communicates through feelings and emotions, a universal language with no boundaries or frontiers, leading to a silent dialogue that will enable us to see beneath the surface the true message. Adding texture with natural as well as man-made materials gives Katiuska’s art deeper feeling and added dimension bringing the memories of the places she has visited and lived with their villages and houses to life.


Fort Lauderdale artist, Lena Luckey. Born in Prague, currently living in Fort Lauderdale. Lena Luckey has traveled the world to cultivate her creative side, leaving her native home in the Czech Republic shortly after her 21st birthday. While living on the Mediterranean peninsula of St. Tropez, the French art and coastal inhabitants inspired Luckey to start painting. A yearning to experience other cultures, this youthful soul began travels south to Casablanca, Morocco. There she absorbed the flavors and textures of Morocco’s rich culture that has incorporated the best of the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Berbers, Portuguese, Spanish and French. These influences began infusing into her art. Intrigued by how her soul was identifying with a wealth of nationalities, Luckey traveled to the island of Bali, Indonesia. She connected immediately to the simplicity and spirituality of the Balinese people and natural environment. Her experiences culminated and her art reveals textures and colors that bridge continents.

In Scratching the Surface, Luckey’s art represents her personal experiences of places, faces, and feelings through her artistic medium of acrylic on canvas. One of Luckey’s signature works, “Healing Heart’ reveals the texture and deep, rich color that permeates her work. This piece illustrates the vitality and vibrancy of a soul that shines through hard lessons of the heart. Of her work Luckey says, “I feel like, no matter how long you have been at it, you always start from scratch. Unless you are the kind of artist who works with a system, where the strategies stay more or less the same and the job consists of filling in the boxes with new materials and color and you go from painting to painting, you begin always knowing nothing. You remain forever an amateur, a first-timer. When you are painting, always trying to learn what you don’t know how to do, you remain close to the place (college dorm room, Prague café) where you first set brush to canvas. You stay in touch with that crazy, dreamy kid who spent so much time in the art galleries. You persist in being idealistic, naive and brave.” Luckey uses beach sand, saw dust, grass or dirt, combined with water or fire on the canvas often charring the surface or melting glue into paint. She employs this unique working method in order to find the right viewer. If the wrong viewer comes across on of Luckey’s paintings, they will remain just paintings. But for the right viewer, her vision blooms off the canvas and is taken…. absorbed into their minds like smoke, fully adapted to its new environment.

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