“How We Bloom” Exhibition

“How We Bloom,” is a two-person exhibition by Brenda Litman and Madison Rubenstein, artists of the California Building’s 2nd floor. They will showcase their work in the on2gallery during September and October. Meet the artists Saturday, Sept. 8, 1-3 pm in the gallery. All artists on the 2nd floor will  have their studios open and be on hand to meet visitors and discuss their work during the second Saturday open studio dates. On2gallery California Building, 2nd floor, 2205 California St. NE. Exhibition Dates: Thursday, Sept. 6-Friday, Oct. 19. Gallery Hours: The Gallery will be open for second Saturdays, Sept. 8 and Oct. 13, 11 am-4 pm. Also on Mondays-Fridays, 10 am-5 pm, or by appointment. Free and open to the public. Info: Brenda Litman, 952-212-4131, litma002@umn.edu, californiabuilding.com/index.html.

Brenda Litman is inspired by the forces of nature surrounding and nurturing life’s journey. “We are part of nature, her seasonal cycles and interdependent plan. We bloom as we wind our way through her garden. All who live in our nation inhabit that garden forming a rich mosaic of entwined blossoms; the ethnicities, the races, the people who immigrated over time and built our country.” In new work, Litman celebrates them and the hard-working people now aspiring to make this country their new home.

Madison Rubenstein’s work is an investigation of how mind and body relate to each other through trauma. She uses abstracted figure, color, shape, and line to refer to the physicality of being human and the history of what a body has endured, physically and psychologically. Through making images, she is able to meditate on the strange and uncomfortable experience of inhabiting a body, and through this experience, she repairs the relationship she has to her own physicality.