LARA CHKHETIANI presents her vibrant abstract ‘Energy of Nature’ paintings at the C.X. Silver Gallery in West Brattleboro throughout September 2007. There will be a reception to meet Lara TODAY September 7, 4:30 -8:30 p.m. at the C.X. Silver Gallery. At the reception there will be an opportunity to sample the renowned cuisine of the west Asian Republic of Georgia.
The C.X. Silver Gallery is located at 814 Western Avenue, on Vermont Route 9 on the left going west, a mile beyond Interstate 91 Exit 2. The Gallery is open weekends 12-6 p.m. and throughout the week by appointment. Morning and evening visits are also possible by contacting Adam Silver at (802) 257-7898 or (802) 579-9088 or at cxsilvergallery@verizon.net.
A healer, composer and designer, Lara comes from the west Asian country of the Republic of Georgia, in the Caucasus Mountains. Chkhetiani is pronounced chech-ee-ah-nee, or else, more closely to Georgian phonetics, try the ch sound (as in church) together with a guttural kh in the same syllable!
With the paintings, there are also examples of Lara’s one of a kind jewelry design, each piece with a different variety of items. Rubies, tourmaline, citrine, crystal, ebony, ivory, coral, shell, turquoise, amber, pearl, quartz, beads, and beach glass appear in one or more of the necklaces. Curiously, there are other items in the necklaces such as dried flowers, peach pits flecked with gold acrylic paint, and dried varnished vegetables. In one necklace, there are cucumbers, carrots, string beans and beets threaded together with the other items.
Lara’s CD of her music compositions from her album, Nostalgia, is available at the Gallery. A slide show of 500 views of the Republic of Georgia will be showing during the reception.
Saturday evening September 22, 7 pm, there will be an evening of Georgian costume, dance and music, including a film showing the Georgian National Ballet and the Sukishvili Ensemble with discussion following.
Trained at Moscow Neurological Clinic, Lara has worked as a healer since 1983. She channels energy and releases it through her hands as an inherent part of her painting. Saturday morning September 8, 9-11 a.m., there will be individual half-hour healing sessions with Lara by appointment at 814 Western Avenue. Call for schedule and cost information related to the healing sessions, (802) 257-7898.
Viewing Lara’s paintings one can notice surface textures dancing and colors shimmering across the canvases of applied rice paper and acrylic paint. The surfaces have a crumpled or wrinkled effect in many places conveying, in some works, a feeling of soaring high over patterns of mountains and valleys, and in other works, a feeling of being in the sea at different depths, near the surface with sunlight raking through, or further down in the deep with otherworldly luminescence shining through. This is but one interpretation of these intriguing works. Looking at the abstractions can be an opportunity to allow the mind and emotions to respond in their unique ways and to project one’s own personal experiences into the play of color and form.