Nature vs. Nurture Exhibit: Opening Reception

Join us on January 30th from 5:30 - 8:00pm for the opening reception of our first exhibit of the year, Nature vs. Nurture!

ArtSpace opening receptions are free and open to the public. Get a first look at the exhibit, meet the artists, learn about their story behind the art, and mingle with other creatives and supporters of arts!

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

Nature vs. Nurture presents the work of mother-and-daughter artists Eva Marie Faith and Ann Marie Fitzsimmons, both of whom have chosen lives rooted in painting, teaching, family, and the pursuit of meaningful creative practice. While their subject matter and styles differ, the artists share a deep mutual respect and serve as each other’s most trusted critics—colleagues both in the studio and the classroom.

At first glance, their paintings may appear quite different, yet closer observation reveals shared visual sensibilities. This exhibition invites viewers to observe these comparisons and reflect on the ways Faith and Fitzsimmons have influenced one another over time.

Both artists depict manmade structures devoid of human presence, creating spaces that feel contemplative and open to interpretation. Their works are derived from photographs used primarily as compositional tools rather than as references to specific locations. Color plays a vital role in each practice, with carefully mixed palettes and subtle shifts in hue enhancing depth and atmosphere. Through painting, Faith and Fitzsimmons look more closely at the world around them—and, in turn, construct worlds of their own.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Eva Marie Faith has developed a body of architectural miniature paintings that explore the relationship between abstract modernist composition and realism. The manmade structures she depicts transcend their original function, serving instead as vehicles for visually engaging, nearly abstract compositions. Faith pushes her work in this direction through deliberate cropping, rotation, and simplification of subjects drawn from her own photographs—though the paintings will never truly be abstract. She graduated with highest honors from Pratt Institute in 2015 with a BFA in Painting. Since then she has worked as an art instructor at Around the Corner Art Center in Freehold and Morganville, and she exhibits and sells her work in juried shows locally and across the United States.

Ann Marie Fitzsimmons paints images of chairs and benches. Her style is realism, yet her compositions intentionally border on the geometric. Benches and chairs are made to fit the contours of the human body, yet the chairs and benches that Fitzsimmons depicts are notably vacant.  American antiquarian Leigh Keno believes that “an object records the life around it,” a sentiment that resonates deeply in Fitzsimmons’s paintings. Public benches, often overtaken by weeds, become quiet reflections on absence and an invitation to pause and observe the world more closely. Fitzsimmons graduated with honors from Montclair State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art. Her work has been exhibited in juried shows across the United States, and she currently teaches painting and drawing to children, teens, and adults at the Around the Corner Art Center in Freehold.