EXHIBITION ARCHIVE
Summer
June 28 - August 23, 2025
Summer brings together the work of Peg Bachenheimer, Kathryn DeMarco, Paul Hrusovsky and Judy Keene, four of Craven Allen Gallery’s most popular artists. Working in a variety of mediums, including oil paint, collage and encaustic, they create pieces that range from complete abstraction to representational and figurative. Each artist pays special attention to the interactions of color and texture in their pieces, manipulating these elements in their own ways.
Kathryn DeMarco has been a core part of Craven Allen Gallery for over 25 years, both as an employee and exhibiting artist. She works in collage, creating vivid images of wildlife from cut scraps of magazines and specialty papers. Each composition is full of collected text and images that add layers of meaning to her work.
STATEMENT
My work is a celebration of portraiture through the medium of collage, where I blend a love for realism with the raw, tactile quality of cut paper. Whether capturing companion animals, vibrant songbirds, or self-portraits, I approach each piece with the same intent: to reveal the spirit of the subject through layers of paper, paint, and glue, guided by equal parts skill and imagination.
I am especially drawn to birds—their delicate forms, vivid colors, and expressive postures allow me to explore themes of freedom, fragility, and resilience. Recently, I have listened to the songs more intently and used the Merlin APP to identify the birds. Listening to the tranquility and the urgency of bird songs and calls has become important for the compositions. Each bird becomes a portrait in its own right, evoking a sense of wonder and presence.
These collages explore the emotional and symbolic connections between humanity and the natural world.
Every piece is a process of deconstructing and reconstructing, where layered paper reflects the complexities of identity, emotion, and life itself. I aim to create a space where viewers can feel the vitality of my subjects—where even paper seems to breathe. Through this work, I seek to push the boundaries of realism while honoring the intricate beauty of life’s most intimate portraits.
We the Animals
May 18 - June 29, 2019
“Animals are survivalists. Humans are, too,” says artist Kathryn DeMarco in her statement for We The Animals. Both DeMarco and Bryant Holsenbeck are inspired by the resilience of nature in the modern world; both are keenly aware of our use of resources, using recycled materials to create their artworks-- without sacrificing the integrity of their artistic visions.
Kathryn DeMarco’s new collages range in scale from small, intensely colorful works featuring animals, to several life-size nude self-portraits in black and white in which she seeks “… to capture some of the feelings of defiance, distress, vulnerability, wonder and power that are universal for all people and animals.” DeMarco typically begins with a life drawing in charcoal, which she embellishes with two- and three-dimensional materials and paint; text is also incorporated into many of her pieces. From a distance the works have bold lines and strong graphic qualities which speak to her remarkable skills in painting and drawing; up close the details of the source materials of her collage work emerge, adding layers of meaning.
STATEMENT
“And then I looked at myself here, chicken scratching for my immortality.” from Hejira by Joni Mitchell.
I have been repeating this lyric to myself ever since the first time I heard it. “Chicken scratching for my immortality” is a vivid image about how all beings persevere with a fierce desire to survive.
Animals are survivalists. Humans are, too. I think of immortality when I am bounding up a steep hill on a run or when hear about a young Thai soccer team using cooperation and instinct to endure days trapped in a mine. The optimism which drives family members and rescuers to persevere in spite of the odds amazes me. I think of immortality when I see my cats angrily angling for food and then and relaxing together after they are sated, or when I see a group of small birds pursing a hawk that has gotten too close to the nest. Those birds are protecting their brood – and the hawk is doing the same.
My work for this exhibition features portraits of the animals that enlighten me with their resilience, and large self-portraits in black and white inspired by specific moments in my life. I have the autoimmune disease, Type 1 Diabetes, diagnosed in my early 20's. It was a shock because I was so active and healthy, a lifelong athlete and runner. I had to learn how to take care of myself all over again, bargaining with the disease to maintain the integrity of the things that were important to me. Still, I have some low points. I have to make compromises almost every day.
With these portraits I want to capture some of the feelings of defiance, distress, vulnerability, wonder and power that are universal for all people and animals. There is always a challenge, little or huge, for all of us.
Homecoming
March 8 - April 19, 2014
STATEMENT
I have been working at Craven Allen Gallery as a custom framer, sales associate and reluctant web designer for 16 yrs. The custom frame work is very interesting, allowing me to work with my hands and with my creative mind. I meet many interesting people and see wonderful art.
Most satisfying has been the unique interactions and collaborations with my co-workers and bosses. Each person has made my think differently about my existence in this world. We have discussions about art, music, animals and politics. These talks fuel my desire to create different kinds of collages. I am often gluing stuff into a piece while laughing and wondering if that little photo or text will elicit a chuckle or wince from someone I know.
The group of collages in Homecoming illustrates some of my life as a person with flaws, as an artist and as an animal lover.
Flight
July 13 - September 14, 2013
Flight conjures many possibilities, from lighter-than air-travel to escape. Nine artists are featured in the gallery’s summer exhibition: Harriet Bellows, Kathryn DeMarco, Larry Downing, Bryant Holsenbeck, Paul Hrusovsky, Cathy Kiffney, Jean LeCluyse, Luna Lee Ray and Matt Tomko.
Sizeable Thoughts
October 3 - November 7, 2009
Kathryn DeMarco’s new collages and drawings range in scale from very small to several larger-than-life-size self portraits. She presents herself both nude and clothed; some of the poses and interior settings are inspired by the controversial Polish-French artist Balthus. DeMarco typically begins with a life drawing in charcoal, which she embellishes with two and three dimensional materials and paint; text is also incorporated into many of her pieces. From a distance the works have bold lines and strong graphic qualities which speak to her remarkable skills in painting and drawing; up close the details of the source materials of her collage work emerge, adding layers of meaning.
STATEMENT
My collages and drawings are Sizeable Thoughts. That's what I discovered when I tried to describe the thoughts captured in these works in regular-sized words. They are sizeable because they encompass everything I see, hear, read and feel. Ideas and feelings and sometimes even facts impact my decisions and creativity. I write down and photograph ideas and thoughts that arise while I work, read, exercise and especially while I paint, then I develop and refine them in my studio. So, not just a thought, but the process of thinking is reflected in my art.
Together, the images shown in each piece and the materials that I use to create them represent the power to imagine. To develop and delineate thoughts, I use paper found and cut from any imaginable source: magazines, books, maps, wallpaper, calendars, advertisements and even scraps of painted paper from the floor of my studio. In each collage there is a wealth of information about my life and what I see in the environment around me, including the things that I love and the things that obsess me. Each time we look at the world, or at a work of art, there is something different to see. These collages draw you in, like an interesting pattern in the tile floor in a bathroom sucks you in, looking for some configuration you haven't seen before.
Because these sizeable thoughts do not fit neatly into words, I will instead employ the sentiments of an artist whose paintings I love, Balthus*: “enough about me, just look at the work…”
*Balthasar Klossowski de Rola an esteemed, but controversial Polish-French artist of the late 20th century
Secrets & Lies
September 22 - November 3, 2007