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New Beginnings is the title of the painting by artist Noemi Manero featured in the Women's View 2024 exhibition, now on display at the Caldwell Gallery at the San Mateo County County Center campus through April 26, and is one of 46 works that offer a glimpse into what local women artists are thinking and doing.
“My art tells a story of resilience, celebrating who I am as a woman and an artist,” Manero said. “Through life’s ups and downs, I acknowledge the challenges I’ve faced and the victories I’ve gained. This painting is about starting over, finding beauty in the chaos, and moving forward with determination.”
The canvas of Renata Aryanti, another of the artists featured in this exhibition, is full of midnight blues, greens, yellows and points of light.
Her work, “Cosmos,” is inspired “by the vastness of our universe and my emotional response to the unknown and uncertainties. I started doing a lot of abstract with fluid acrylic in 2021, after the pandemic, as my way of processing how to embrace uncertainties and chaos and create beauty from them.”
Meanwhile, Agnes Qui's self-portrait radiates energy, both hot and cold.
“I incorporated both water and fire into my art, as they are very important elements in Chinese culture,” Qui said. “Water is believed to represent intelligence, wisdom, flexibility, softness and malleability. Fire symbolizes energy, creativity, passion, power, strength, courage and assertiveness.
“I chose these two elements,” she said, “because I feel very connected to them, they represent a big part of who I am, all my inner expressions.”
This is the 18th annual Women's View exhibition, which runs through April 26 and opened March 1, the same day Women's History Month kicked off. The event is a collaboration between the Office of Arts and Culture, the Commission on the Arts, and the Commission on the Status of Women.
“Taken together, the exhibition gives us a glimpse into the diverse creative processes of women in our communities,” said Aimee Shapiro, executive director of the Office of Arts and Culture.
“Visitors can view artwork throughout the Caldwell Gallery, read artist statements, and discover what personal meaning the work has for them.”
Works include oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings, tapestries, photographs, mixed media and more. Entrants must be women or local artists who identify as women.
With 2024 being the year of a hotly contested US presidential election, several of the works have social and political themes.
The overall winner of the juried exhibition is “From Mother to Son: Don’t Let Them Steal Your Sunshine,” a collage of acrylic, fabric, and paper created by artist Rebecca Archer.
“Looking at a photo of Alabama from 1956, I was struck by how sweet and innocent these two little black boys looked and my instinct as a mother was to protect them. But because it was a photograph from 1956 and they were black, I was also aware that there was little anyone could do to protect them,” the artist described. The title is inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem Mother to Son.
Selma Tufail took second place for her oil on canvas work, “The Fountain,” while Echo Lake Wodarczyk’s watercolor and ink work, “Madness,” took third place.
The Caldwell Gallery is located on the first floor of the San Mateo County Hall of Justice in Redwood City. Admission is free.
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