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light through a glass spring features work by artists Cynthia Goodman Brantley and Emily Selvin. Emily’s translucent glass and Cynthia’s glowing drawings play with mixing non-literal forms and perceived function. Both artists embrace openness in their pieces, and leave their work available to viewers’ analysis. Oftentimes Emily encourages audience members to play with her sculptures and relive childhood memories, breathing new movement into her pieces and bringing them to life. Cynthia carefully explores light and color, repeatedly finding herself in love with transparency. Both artists toy with the idea of form and function, finding the intersection of logic and whimsy in each imperfection in the glass or curve of a gradient. 

Through Emily’s form-inspired objects and Cynthia’s light-driven drawings, we find a space with few anchors. Each set of eyes that find themselves hovering on their work will read it differently than the person before, a welcomed experience by both artists. The light that travels through both of their pieces carries a whimsical freedom of exploration with it, and helps carry the viewer to a playful, non-goal oriented space.

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Cynthia Goodman Brantley 

Artist Bio: 

I have been an artist for over 50 years now.  As of today, I have a husband, one daughter and two granddaughters.

I studied art informally for roughly 8 years with some fine instructors. For many years I was not able to devote all my energies to art, as the necessity for earning a living and raising a daughter consumed much of my time. I continued to draw and paint whenever I could and fortunately, in my mid 40’s I was able to devote myself more fully to artwork.  So now I have had about 30 years of having time to paint and draw.  I still find that art is the center of my life: seeing it, learning about it, making it.  Apart from my family’s joys and responsibilities, this remains my main preoccupation.  My goal for the next decade in addition to making art is to have greater success in getting my work out in the world. I feel this is a responsibility I owe to my love and my labors.

Artist Statement: 

Upon reflection I have discovered that many of my ideas of art were formed when I was young and have persisted throughout life.  One of the ideas that influenced me most is the idea of art as non-verbal communication.  Painting or drawing is my way of conveying a thought or feeling on a 2-D plane. As in all communication, it is my conviction that the viewer is going to have a unique reaction to what is being presented.  I would like this to be as free as possible from outside influences.

The very nature of “non-literal” leaves room for multiple interpretations of a piece of art. If I explain the work, either verbally or in writing, it may offer insight or it may redirect or interfere with what the viewer is experiencing themselves. The meaning someone draws from the work, on their own,is not necessarily the same as I have in making it, but just as important. In college, I did a series of sleeping/dreaming drawings for an independent study.  When I showed them to my instructor, he said: “isn’t it depressing to be doing drawings of dead people?”  Naturally, I was a bit surprised by his response, but in talking to people viewing my work, I so often encounter new perspectives that are insightful.

Metaphor is the basis for my work, I consider myself from the school of symbolism, which is as the 19th century artist Redon put it so succinctly:” ….putting the logic of the visible at the service of the invisible.”  Using this as a starting point, I begin work; the process itself becomes a source of exploration, thoughts developing as forms are being drawn and color added.

I did figurative work for 30 years or so, and now do non representational imagery, which I continue to view as metaphors for life experiences. 

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Emily Selvin 

She / Her 

Artist Bio: 

Emily Selvin has devoted her life to the arts. She studied Geo-Textile Engineering and Textile Design at Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. Following her studies in the sciences, she continued her education at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts studying printmaking, classical painting and completed prize winning explorations of mixed media. Since 1997 Emily has operated Selvin Glass, a full service leaded glass restoration and commission based architectural glass studio.  Her work and restoration services have been sought out by designers and architects internationally.  Her sculptural work focuses on nature vs. nurture using objects she finds in nature and combining them with toys often played with by children. Emily uses glass to illustrate the fragility of life, the often deleterious impacts of adult humans towards our eco systems and the memories of the innocence of youth. Her illustrative works focus on the life cycle, specifically the way we face death and global gender issues and how they impact all women. In her spare time Emily makes puppets and marionettes, shoots street photography and embroiders from her photographic imagery using the finest silk threads she can find .

Artist Statement: 

My glass work uses I use the lost wax casting techniques with glass. I like the feeling of surprise, especially when I think I may notice details by glancing quickly at an object and then take a second look and realize just how much I missed the first go round. I get great joy when I have the opportunity to see a viewer do the same when looking at something I’ve made. In my glass kinetic works I love to see the joy come over viewers when they realize they can touch the tiny sculptures and see them move and rock from side to side. The invitation to play, albeit gently invites the viewer to participate a bit in my childhood, or in our collective childhoods. I have been influenced by the glass works of the glass cast artists in the 1920’s France and of course, by Alexander Calder, who’s playful Circus still brings me delight.

In my street photography I “shoot from the hip” so to speak. I don’t want posed experiences in my eye. I am obsessed with collecting the every day, the lull in time, or the small breaks in between. I call myself a hoarder with my photos. I am passionate about capturing people sitting in stoops on their work breaks, smoking a cigarette, staring at their phone or gazing off blankly into the air. I am influenced by many great street photographers notably Vivian Maier and Helen Levitt. I grew up in a photography studio, as my father was a journalist photographer.