Having lived parallel lives — both Jocelyn Fine and Sandra Charlap moved to Maplewood/South Orange to raise their children. Longtime friends, mothers, teachers, and artists, both were diagnosed with breast cancer within weeks of each other. The experience was life altering, and significantly impacted their artistic journey, and afforded them a new perspective. Having shared this experience, it is unsurprising that their work is connected by threads of exploration, curiosity and a respect for nature and existence. Both Fine and Charlap began grappling with similar subject matter, this wanderlust-fantasy for travel; for places we have been, or dreams of places where we might go. Their unique and separate approaches to creating, bring dimension and juxtaposition to the opening: Fine renders scenery pulled and stretched from her memory through epic abstract shapes in a minimalistic style, while Charlap provides maximalist details and vibrant colors to settings of her imagination, places of the future, possibilities in paint. The large scale of the work speaks to the enormity of and reverence for the terrain which it captures. The landscape paintings, rich with color and an untethered dreaminess page remind us of our hopes and desires and ephemerality of life.

This is Fine and Charlap’s first joint show. They are thrilled to be exhibiting at the 1978 gallery, in their hometown of Maplewood, NJ.

Read the Artist Interview Here