Meshwork of Color

Artplex Gallery’s May exhibition Meshwork of Color features artwork from Ash Almonte, Nicola Katsikis, and Marco Schmidli.

Based on a study of grid structures and layers with an emphasis on soft and oftentimes linear extensions, the featured artists create layered works with a delicate grid of soothing compositions. A play with perceived convexity creates surface conditions in their works where normal markings seem lost until prominent features are rediscovered underneath the surface. When approaching various angles the use of mixed media, their interconnections, and color dispersion is visible in many of the works on display.

Marco Schmidli’s work is known for its sensitive surfaces and subtle textures. He has developed specialized techniques for applying and layering color. There are infinite possibilities on how to apply paint onto a surface and he often creates his own tools for that purpose.

Swiss-born, Marco Schmidli studied photography and fine art in Switzerland and Rome. He worked as a photographer and painter in Zurich before moving to California in 1989. After coming to California, Schmidli developed his work making backdrops for luxury photography. Working with top photographers, art directors, and set designers; Schmidli has set the industry standard in his work with clients such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and more.

Nicola Katsikis has been intrigued by graffiti from a young age, observing subway cars with colorful images. The artist states, “I’ve always used the urban landscape as my inspiration, finding beauty where others may see grime. Graffiti is a natural expression of people’s feelings and emotions.”

Katsikis’s artworks are creative combinations of her own photographs. Each photograph adds color as well as depth to the artwork, revealing the materials the graffiti was painted on originally, or showing aspects of well-known places that have been previously overlooked. All of her work is applied to a wood panel and finished off with several coats of clear resin.

Ash Almonte was born in Abilene, Texas in 1983. Quickly gaining nationwide attention for her unique and fresh style, Almonte uses references to abstract expressionism and combines it with a layered figurative aesthetic. Fueled by a desire to create, Almonte began experimenting, using anything she could find to turn into a spontaneous work of art.

“The Chandelier series was created to express how we inspire one another,” explains Almonte. “As an artist I am attempting to portray this idea visually through the expression of light, the light we provide one another. The beauty and complexity of a chandelier is what I find best represents this light. Throughout all my works are hidden winding abstract circles, representing unconditional love without an end or beginning.”