The Overall Winning Artists Category consists of the 10 Best Entries received from the 3 different media categories of the Painting & Other Category, Photography & Digital Category and 3 Dimensional Art Category.

The winning artists will now be featured on the Light Space & Time website for the month of April 2017 and thereafter, the artworks and links to the artist’s websites will remain online in the Light Space & Time Archives.

Congratulations to our artists who made our 7th Annual “Figurative” Art Exhibition so successful this month. At any time, we invite our winners and other interested visitors to link their websites to the Gallery’s Archive section for further ongoing promotion.

The Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery will have digital “Figurative” Award Certificates, Event Postcard, and Press Releases sent to the winning artists within the next week or so.

Thank you to all of the artists who participated and for being a part of the gallery.  To return to the Figurative Home Page here.

1st Place – Todd Davis – “Chimera1-15-2-362”

From shooting the latest product for Anheuser Busch to photographing an interactive panorama of the fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis, Todd Davis collaborates with clients to convey their vision through fine photography. As a top graduate of Southern Illinois University’s rigorous photography program, Davis combines his expert training with more than thirty years of experience in commercial and fine art photography to create photographs that are both captivating and original.

Not to be restricted to the inanimate, Davis has photographed celebrities including Prince, Michael Buble, Pamela Anderson, Greg Sporleder, and Ernest Trova, to name a few. Product, beverage, celebrity promotional, live performance, catalog fashion, and fine art photography are all represented in his extensive portfolio.

As a respected industry veteran, Todd Davis has been featured in publications such as View Camera, Toy Camera, and the reference book Artificial Lighting for Photography.

Davis has also been a guest lecturer at Webster University and Southern Illinois University. His fine art photography has been exhibited in prestigious galleries and museums throughout the US. Davis is currently represented by Modern Art Etc in Los Angeles and his latest works are featured in the Holly Hunt Galleries, and The Sherry Leedy Gallery in Kansas City, as well as many private and corporate collections.  His website is www.tdavisphoto.com   

2nd Place – Jorge Van de Perre – “Little Fringed Red Blanket”

Jorge Van de Perre was born in Santiago de Chile in 1958.  He graduated from secondary education at Andres Bello High School in Santiago in 1976.

The following year he entered the Catholic University to study Pedagogy in Biology and Natural Sciences, three years later, in 1979, he changed to a Degree in Chemistry at the University of Chile. Finally that same year, he interrupts his studies, which he will not resume.

Although he always had very much interest and admiration for the artistic work, in particular for the painting and the sculpture, his dedication to painting began late, after his 35 years old. Previously he remained in the field of craftsmanship working with materials as diverse as copper, wood or leather.

In particular, he spent more than a decade working with leather, exploring the many ways in which works can be done, ranging from to make utilitarian articles to artworks such as carving, pyrography, embossing or modeling.

Gradually, the need to draw and paint became more and more important.  He began to make his first artistic works adopting watercolor and oil as his favorite techniques, which he learned in a self-taught way.

In 1996 he traveled to Belgium, where he stayed for several years. In that same year, he exhibited his watercoolers at the Expo Flanders, representing Chile.

Three years later he joined the Academy of Fine Arts RHOK in Brussels, to pursue formal studies where he graduated in 2003 with a mention in sculpture.

Meanwhile, he makes some works by commission and participates in collective exhibitions.

Despite his efforts to devote himself to his artistic passion, he often had to postpone his intentions and take on other jobs. However, for years he has obstinately tried to guide his steps along the artistic path.

In 2016 he published the adult coloring book titled "Oceana".  As for the subject of his works, the artist focuses on the landscape, the human figure and still life, in a realistic style, sometimes with a touch of fantasy, which he describes as magical realism.

Along with oil and watercolor, charcoal drawings and digital techniques are also his center of interest as a means of expression. Currently, painting is his permanent occupation and is also working on increasing the content of his first book and prepares other drawings with new themes to be published.

The works of J. Van de Perre can be found on the following website:  www.jorgevandeperre.com  

3rd Place – Melanie Zibit – “Cuore”

Ms. Zibit is inspired by ancient and modern sculptors. She uses marble and bronze, classical materials, and components of forms found in nature to create a modern statement.

Leaving elements natural or forms unfinished invites the viewer to complete the form in their mind’s eye. Whether it's the classic form of the human body or a garden-variety radish, the smooth, free-flowing curves of Melanie Zibit's sculptures trace seamlessly throughout her work.

She learned to carve in the marble workshops of Carrara, Italy. She has lived among artists in rural Eastport, Maine, and NYC. Currently, she carves at the Vermont Carving Studio and Sculpture Center along with sculptors from all over New England.

Her award-winning pieces have been displayed at various museums, universities and art festivals throughout New England; and her work has been included in recent publications, such as 100 Artists of New England and Vermont's Carving Studio & Sculpture Center's Carving out a Dream. She has received commissions and won awards from the NYC Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club in NYC in 2014 and 2015 and the Cape Cod Art Association where she won the Best in Show 2017 and Best Abstract 2015.

Zibit became interested in sculpting after she transferred to Brandeis College in the late 1960s. After she graduated in 1970, she made her first trip to Italy, where she watched a blacksmith handcraft the sculpting tools that she still uses today. “I use an air hammer, which is more controlled and looks like a large dentist drill,” Zibit said. “But I still use hand tools for the more detailed parts of my pieces.” And the detail is key, especially when working with stone. She explains that when working with clay she has the freedom to keep changing her vision through an additive process. But with stone, a subtractive process, one wrong move changes everything.

Jay Block, the curator at Bridgewater State University commented, Ms. Zibit is a rare example of an artist who excels at both the abstract and physical execution of her work. “Many artists have great ideas and can’t make them into a physical manifestation. Some have beautiful form but don’t have a clue what they are doing,” Jay Block said. “Her work isn’t a mistake. It’s very well done on the conceptual and technical level.” Block said the smooth, round edges of Zibit’s work convey a sensuous nature. He compares her style to that of cave art for its realistic but not overbearing interpretation of the human body. “Cave art is painted and sculpted, and the motion is augmented to have the same level of sophistication as the human form. But it does it with a minimum of line and information,” Block said. “Melanie’s work is the same way”

Ms. Zibit’s bronze submission, “Daphne” depicts a beautiful woman changing into a laurel tree. Its roots come from the Greek myth “Daphne and Apollo” a myth of unrequited love. Cupid shot a "dull" arrow into Daphne's heart to "stop" love and a "gold" arrow into Apollo's heart to "start" love. Apollo runs after Daphne, but Daphne runs away calling upon her father the River God to "Change my form, which has brought me into this danger!” Her father, answering her plea, cast upon her an enchantment to change her into a laurel tree.

Ms. Zibit’s submission titled “Cuore” means “heart” in Italian. The piece is carved out of pure white statuario Carrara marble. The Greeks called marble ‘the shining stone” and the Italians say marble is "made from the tears of the gods." Marble has become a cultural symbol of tradition and refined taste. This piece was carved using the “direct carving process” an approach to carving sculpture where the actual process of carving suggests the final form rather than from a carefully worked out preliminary model. This piece evokes the female breast and embodies the description of one of Ms. Zibit's early teachers Prof. Mitch Siporin, "the liquid, flowing form has been endowed with a dignified energy, dynamically serene, self-contained and communicative."  www.melaniezibit.com  

4th Place – Kelvin Mendie – “Fiona”

Kelvin is a Toronto based artist exploring his experience as an immigrant from southern Nigeria.  His works present himself as he would be if he was back at home with my tribal family; crown and all.

I channel Nigerian sculptures by distorting my facial features in the same way as those ethnic sculptures. I stretch the jawline and create holes in place of the pupils of the eyes. I also eliminate fine details in the skin in favor of a more sculptural feel to the piece. This, however, is juxtaposed by the series of lines that emanate from the portrait which suggests the disintegration of this powerful side of my personality due to distance and the mental invasion of western culture into my lifestyle.

This drawing is one of a series of figures which aim to address not only the cultural identity (or lack thereof) of Africans in the western world but also to challenge the stereotypical representation of Africans as poor, unfortunate children.

This piece is meant to be confrontational and evokes a sense of a greater power to the viewer through the stern gaze and seemingly soulless eyes. Mediums used are blue ballpoint pen on watercolor paper.  kelvinmendie@gmail.com  

5th Place - Jessica Levant – “Magic in the Night”

Jessica has had a growing addiction to photographing the world around her for the past decade or so and is never without at least one camera wherever she goes.

A self-taught photo artist, she is eternally astonished at the endless variety of transformation that can be brought to a scene using digital filters and techniques.

One stream of her work has been people both in street photography and as impromptu portraits. She has further begun incorporating her photography into original collages which she then photographs as very textural black and white prints.  www.jessicalevant.com

6th Place – Najwan Zoubi – “Israeli Abundance”

I started painting over twenty years ago. The real artist in me appeared later when I started to grasp a deeper meaning of the complexity of the Israeli Culture; Arab Israeli and Jewish Israeli. A hope in unity among the diversity of people in Israel was what I experienced as a young Arab woman artist.

Art conquers the space, maps and reshapes it. Art celebrates people’s complicated coexistence. The Art World of the complex Israeli society will hopefully reach people here and beyond. So empathy will translate into compassion and find sensitive hearts. The harshness of public voices, political, ethnic, religious at times makes art indiscernible; but the artistic landscape gives a different hope.

My artwork deals with memories and flashbacks that I can recapture and gather daily in my life as a woman that lives between two complicated worlds. Since the day I was born, I tried to cover the layers of growth and crumbling living walls with paintings. The changing world continues to grow while our complex society remains. I paint and search this infinite universe. My job as an artist seems impossible to describe. Painting and drawing is a special language, not easy to record because it is invented along the way. I don't try to capture the world exactly as it is with my brushes, more than I try to understand it and message it out to all nations in my own artistic way.  http://jojoponyo.wixsite.com/najwanzoubi  

7th Place – Thalie B. Vernet – “Melusine”

Thalie B. Vernet’s childhood in the French nobility was a bruising one under the tutelage of her career military father and her submissive mother. Her education was classical. Her relationship with her father was difficult from the beginning. Her artistic nature and his military one were perpetually at odds.

She was a studious child but Thalie’s creativity was frowned upon so she read books in secret and wrote poems that baffled her father. She felt stifled. Her older siblings left the house as soon as they could, abandoning Thalie to her parents.

She only became free with the death of her father when she was 23. She moved to Argentina for four years returning to France at age 27. She moved to Paris and fully committed herself to photography.

Through her photos, she translates living with her father, the unspoken... She relates to the outcasts of society, homosexuals, abused women… At the same time, she has succeeded in the man’s world of business building a real estate portfolio. She is proud of what she has done. A revenge on life.

She lives near Paris in an old mill that dates from the Middle Ages among animals and surrounded by friends.

An accomplished artist, actress, lover of books, animals and nature, Thalie B.Vernet long strolled the world of the arts without positioning herself. In 1992, at the suggestion of a photographer friend, she turned to photography and discovered her passion.

Each of Thalie’s photographs samples her days. She reworks her photographs like paintings until she achieves the pure emotion of their original concept.

Thalie uses the overall look of a photograph and her intimacy with her models to transmit the emotion she seeks. Her sensibilities give life to her photographs.

A feminine and elegant woman, Thalie is unafraid to express her masculine side in the man's world in which she takes part as an artist - nor does she spurn darkness. Her work freely explores themes of anger, indignation, and sorrow. Her photographs are the reflections of a divided and tortured soul. Her website is http://thalie-b-vernet.com  

8th Place – Anna Farmilo – “Abstract Form”

Growing up on a farm is where I first discovered color and freedom. I would crush up rocks to make an earthy pallet. I continued art all the way through my schooling. For the next 17 years that followed I hardly picked up a pencil. The day I decided to leave my marriage is the day I picked up a paintbrush and started painting. I have now been painting for 5 years and am dedicating my life to art.

She was educated at Educated in painting, drawing and mixed media – at the Hazelhurst Art Gallery Gymea – 2016.  She has had an exhibition at the Bondi Art Lounge in 2014.  Her artistic influences are Toulouse Lautrec, Picasso, and Van Gogh. 

I'm a Sydney based artist lucky enough to be able to dedicate my life to art.  I am always happy to recreate a sold artwork.  www.facebook.com/AnnaFarmiloArt  

9th Place – Cheryl Maeder – “Les Copines Meditation”

Cheryl Maeder was born in Elmwood Park, New Jersey and in her early 20s moved to Zurich, Switzerland, where she studied photography at the Zurich University of the Arts. After eight years in Switzerland, Maeder returned to the United States and opened her successful photography studio in San Francisco, where she photographed international advertising and fashion campaigns.

Cheryl Maeder transitioned from photographing fashion models to photographing real women. She wanted to celebrate the beauty of women in all shapes and sizes. Her photography work became the inspiration for the global Dove Campaign on Real Women, Real Beauty which transformed the way women are perceived in the media.

In 2005, she relocated her studio to the Miami area and deeply immersed herself into fine art photography and filmmaking. Maeder’s explorations with her camera uncovered her passion for Abstractionism and Impressionism in both her photography and her video installations.

“Each of Maeder’s images elegantly transforms into paintings. Through her work, we are introduced to an avant-garde method of painting through photographs.” Sebastian Perez, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale. Cheryl’s website is www.maederphotography.com  

10th Place – Dee Jackson – “Nolwazi”

“Although Australian based, I have spent several years living in Southern Africa and New Zealand. Watercolor is my great love; it is the fluidity and spontaneity that attracts. As a medium, watercolor lends itself to the softness and curves of the human form. It allows the artist great freedom.

Portraiture by its very nature is an intimate experience. Especially with children, I see the love of a parent for their child. It is that individual passion and character I hope to portray. Preoccupied as we are, perhaps from very different backgrounds, there is always a human connection.

I also enjoy creating simple graphite portraits – works on paper. My portraits have been commissioned throughout Australia as well as in the United Kingdom, USA, South Africa, Singapore, Vietnam and New Zealand.” Her website is http://portraitartistsaustralia.com.au/browse-portrait-artists/jackson-dee