WHQR invites you to view the creative paintings of
Charmaine Ortiz and Abby Spangel Perry
"Aquatic Synthesis"
Join us Friday, April 22nd from 6 - 9pm
for the WHQR Gallery opening reception.
Meet the artists and enjoy complimentary wine and snacks.
A portion of all sales benefits WHQR.
Aquatic Synthesis brings together the work of two talented local artists, Charmaine Ortiz and Abby Spangel Perry. The artists describe the show as “Broad in theory: of or relating to the water, but synthesized through artistic process.” The works of Abby Spangel Perry and Charmaine Ortiz draw upon the unique biological and psychological structures surrounding the notion of the Aquatic for the inspired creation of their mixed media works. Abby Spangel Perry's work takes a biological approach by utilizing scientific drawings of plankton as a starting point for a series of mixed-media paintings. Perry’s focus on the most minute components of the aquatic food chain is an effort to draw attention to the creatures that form the basis of aquatic life as we know it. Charmaine Ortiz examines the physical and psychological structures related to the Aquatic using processes of abstraction. Ortiz’ graphite paintings and time-based media rely on abstraction’s unfolding dynamic to expose the structural and psychological essence of her unique subjects. These two complimenting bodies of work have been streamlined into a single show, Aquatic Synthesis on view at the WHQR Gallery.
Charmaine Ortiz grew up in the small farming town of Meadow, North Carolina. She moved to Wilmington in 2003 to attend the University of North Carolina, where she earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Painting and Art History. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions and has hosted a variety of art historical presentations at annual symposiums conducted by the North Carolina Association of Historians and Savannah College of Art and Design. Prior to her graduate studies she assisted local artist Virginia Wright-Frierson in building Airlie Gardens’ Minnie Evans Bottle Chapel. In 2008, Savannah College of Art and Design awarded her the Combined Honors Fellowship to facilitate her completion of dual graduate degrees in Art History (MA) and Painting (MFA). After completing her MFA, she received the SCAD Encore Thesis Award for one of the most outstanding MFA thesis exhibitions of 2010. She is currently living in Carolina Beach, NC finishing her Art History MA and exhibiting her mixed-media works across the nation.
Abby Spangel Perry’s relationship to art developed out of a love of drawing from cartoons as a child in Pennsylvania. After a move to North Carolina to work with Americorps in Wilmington, Perry discovered an overpowering connection with the natural environment. In 2002, she earned a BFA in Painting with honors from East Carolina University. While there, Perry participated in the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources Environmental Education certification program and was awarded an internship through the NC Youth Advocacy Commission to work at Carolina Beach State Park. It was there that she developed her understanding of ecology and humanity's role within its framework. In 2004, Perry received the NC Arts Council Regional Emerging Artist Grant and returned to ECU in 2005. She received an MFA in Painting and Drawing at the end of 2007. Perry currently teaches Drawing, Design and Art Appreciation at Cape Fear Community College in Downtown Wi
