Curated by Evonne M. Davis
October 5 – November 22, 2019
Opening Reception October 5, 7-10 PM
Gallery Aferro 73 Market St Newark NJ

People “come out” at different times in life, for different reasons revealing diverse secrets. Geri Hahn’s secret was that she was an artist. For the first 68 years of her life, none but family ever saw her drawings or her artwork. She is now a 74-year-old self-taught artist whose work is biomorphic, geometric and super-brightly colored. Hahn taught herself to work with fabric and thread, and now her art is created with hand-sewn and embroidered silk and linen with elements of shiny metallic floss.

The pieces exhibited represent three basic categories of pattern recognition: sounds, words, and emotions. Hahn’s ability to recognize patterns is enabled by her neurological hard wiring: She is a “synesthete.” Synesthesia is simply the human experience of when one sense is activated, another unrelated sense is activated at the same time. Hahn “sees” every single sound she hears. Sounds are experienced as patterns of color, texture and concrete elements that exist in the physical world. Patterns in speech and emotions or feelings of her physical senses also serve as creative inspiration.

Yes, her secret is out, and she is still living out loud.

Eleta J. Caldwell and Rodney M. Gilbert Memorial Gallery