CURRENT EXHIBIt

 

CONSTELLATIONS
The Geometry of the Roman Alphabet
Works by Steven Ferlauto
March 6 – April 30, 2024
RECEPTION Saturday, March 30, 3–5pm with cellist Courtney Hedgecock

MEET THE ARTIST DAYS
For a truly deep dive into Steven’s work and the history of sacred geometry, stop by for an informal conversations and a personal guided tour of the many exhibit components.
Saturday, April 13 & 27, 2–4pm and Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12, 1–3pm

[The universe] cannot be read until we have learnt the language and become familiar with the characters in which it is written. It is written in the mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word.–Galileo

Sacred Geometry is an ancient field of physics whose equations are expressed through shape. Shape is a way to explore the universal fabric of our existence. Certain patterns dictate the world which surrounds us. Proportion is the prime factor considered in these patterns. This odyssey of Steven’s began in 1983 while studying graphic design at Tyler School of Art in Rome. An assignment to design a logo for the city focused his attention on the initialism SPQR which is used as an official emblem of modern-day Rome. From this simple project, Steven was moved to embark on decades of in-depth exploration in the study of the geometry within letterforms. 

The idea of discovering a geometric system within letterform, rather than designing the letters based on a preconceived paradigm, is important to understanding the events of Steven’s study. Just as Michelangelo imagined his sculptures existed within blocks of Carrara marble, Steven experienced the same sense of a preexistent form within the Roman alphabet. The letters already existed in space in some existential way and he chipped away at the shapes to find their geometric origins. 

Steven’s contribution to this field is his discovery that a systematized Roman alphabet constructed from the Golden Ratio does exist. All 26 letters of our modern alphabet are based on this ratio in ways so simple, yet so creative, it boggles the mind. Steven’s colorful breakdown of how these letters are formed becomes a delight in seeing. His research also importantly corrects our history about the motivation for the Renaissance exploration of the Roman alphabet. 

The bulk of Steven’s decades long investigation reveals a structure intrinsic to our Roman alphabet. The letterforms you see in this exhibit reflect an ancient geometric structure known as the Starcut Diagram. This structure has been associated with Archimedes, Euclid, Kepler, Pythagoras, and the geometry of harmonics. The Starcut has been shown as a paradigm of sacred art and architecture. It is the subject of a book by Malcolm Stewart, Sacred Geometry and The Starcut Diagram. 

The elemental unit that Steven discovered within the Roman letters is a specific triangle. The lengths of this triangle express an important proportion known as PHI. This proportion divides a line into the extreme to mean ratio. The Phi proportion is prevalent within the growth patterns of nature. All the triangles in Steven’s drawings are of this proportion. Vertices of the triangles aid in the architecture of each letter. The underlying paradigm on which these triangles dance is the Starcut Diagram. See if you can spot some of the wonders of this puzzling paradox. 

Steven worked as an Art Director for NBC, and then as a cover designer for the major book publishers, including Simon & Schuster, Bertelsmann Music Group, and the Penguin Publishing Company. He has accrued many international awards, including a Clio nomination. His private work is in university collections as well as The Getty Research Institute, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Victoria Albert Museum, and the Newberry Library. His piece “Sacred Space”, in collaboration with Jeffrey Morin, is currently being shown at Oxford University in a show titled “Alphabets Alive.”

Personalized Monograms 

Steven can be commissioned to create custom monograms (with white, black, or seafoam green backgrounds)

These are archival fine art prints are produced on Epson Stylus Pro 11880 and 9900 printers with Epson Ultrachrome K3 and HDR inks. These water-soluble pigmented inks significantly outperform lesser ink technologies, providing consistently stable colors. These inks enable true color fidelity, gloss level, and scratch resistance.

Paper is Hahnemühle Bamboo, 290 gsm, 90% Bamboo fiber, 10% cotton, natural white. This is the world’s first fine art inkjet paper made from bamboo fibers. Hahnemühle Bamboo meets the highest industry standards regarding density, color gamut, color graduation and image sharpness, while preserving the special touch and feel of genuine art paper. These prints meet the highest standards of quality. 

Pricing for Two Letter Monograms
prints 10 x 20 inches   $168
prints 16 x 32 inches   $358
prints 20 x 40 inches   $618     three letter monograms are possible

Visit this link for a thorough tour of his sculptural chapel, “Sacred Space,” created in an edition of 26. Most of these have been sold. We have the last one still available for sale, while one other is in
a museum exhibit in Oxford, England.

Steven’s website is a treasure trove of eye candy and information, and includes detailed descriptions of some of the archival fine art prints for sale, as well as educational videos.

 

 

Below please see some other works that can be found in the, and can be purchased at the click of a button.
We always have new works rotating in to complement the main exhibit, and the gallery is a fun resource when you need just the right piece for a spot in your home, or a special gift for a loved one.

 
 

This Birdhouses fine art broadside was created to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Rob McDonald’s Birdhouses fine press book. It features a photograph by Rob (printed with archival inks at Through This Lens) and a poem by Cynthia Rylant that I “shaped” in a typographic manner and was letterpress printed on a watercoloresque fine art paper.
Edition of 54, signed and numbered.
17 x 22 inches. Normally $145. Only $120 during this exhibition.
The 23 x 30 inch framed version (ebony stained wood, museum glass, 4ply archival mat) is $475.

Community. Photograph by Rob McD;onald. Fine art print from film negative (Holga camera) 10 inch square print centered on 13 x 19 fine art paper, with embossed stamp of authentication. Limited edition of 25, signed and numbered.
Normally $200. Currently $175.
Or $475 on the 18 inch square espresso stained hardwood frame, museum glass, black burlap matboard.

Engravings by Henryk Fantazos from Song of the Line. The hardcover fine press book features poems written over a twenty year period by Jack Gilbert along with a body of copperplate engravings created by Henryk in response to the reading of his longtime friend’s manuscript.

Images are appx. 4.5 x 7 inches and printed on a range of printmaking papers. $200 each

Broadside featuring a drawing by Allan Gurganus along with a quote from a talk he gave when honored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network. Digitally printed on heavyweight cover stock.
$30. 12 x 15 inches

Prints by Lauri Daughtry. 11 x 14 inches. $75 each
The Dictionary Art Series- a response to Covid19

On March 8, I randomly flipped open a long-forgotten and water- damaged dictionary (circa 1962 – my birth year) from the bowels of an antiquated desk at my high school, where I teach. 

Each day of this pandemic, I’ve had a focus, creating over 50 images so far. The feel and smell of an old book page, nostalgia and words from a time past, images familiar to many…

During this time of isolation, over 18 dictionaries have kept me company and kept me productive. Right before the local used book store shut down, I bought 2 boxes of dictionaries and I haven’t stopped yet; the more I look through the books, each with its own feel and smell, the more I want to sketch. The more people are impacted. I’ve also learned some things along the way about myself and the world including “Pandemic” is not a word in the 1962 Webster’s dictionary.  I found “epidemic” and “panic.”however. No one really wants an illustration of the corona virus right now but I sketched it anyway. There are many words I still don’t know, but want to learn. The unabridged  1968  Webster’s has over 2,000 fine, fragile pages.

Pop up book by John Davis celebrates the work of David Ellis and the Barnstormers. Appx 8 x 11 inches when closed.
"Some say we need more bombs to protect our way of life. I think we need more artists who bomb with their creativity, constantly reinventing the way we experience life, keeping us fresh, awake, inspired."—David Ellis
$125

Paddle vase collaboration between glassblower John Geci and Justin Rothshank. Justin creates decal imagery, then John blows glass, then a third layer of imagery is added to the piece.
14 inches tall, 10 inches wide, 5 inches deep.
Normally $450. Now $300.

Claire Ashby. Sandcast pendant, bronze alloy. Custom 16 inch sterling silver chain.
$175.

This broadside was created at the time of publishing Catharine Carter’s 112 page fine press book Journey which featured her photomontage work alongside texts by Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. 17 x 23 inches. Mix of letterpress and giclee printing on 190g William Turner printmaking paper.
Edition of 38, signed and numbered.
$120 unframed, or $475 framed as shown with museum glass..

Maji Moto broadsides were created to accompany Courtney Fitzpatrick’s fine press book of the same name. The photographs were made during a 17 month sojourn to the Amboseli region where Courtney was working on field biology research as part of her PhD research. Courtney took to keeping a journal, filled with lyrical prose, and making photographs of the flora and fauna to keep sane while she lived in isolation and experienced the worst drought cycle in living memory. Combination of letterpress and giclee imagery. Signed and numbered editions of 28 (dual text) and 17 (Paternal Care). 17 x 23 inches
Normally $120. $100 during this exhibit.
$475 for the framed versions. 23 x 29 inches. Museum glass, sustainably harvested African hardwood.

Searching for Home. John McWilliams. Wood engraving framed with UV glass.  Print only. $100 (6 x 8 inches on gampi paper).  Black metal frame with UV glass. 12 x 14 inches. $250.

Searching for Home. John McWilliams. Wood engraving framed with UV glass.
Print only. $100 (6 x 8 inches on gampi paper).
Black metal frame with UV glass. 12 x 14 inches. $250.

Wood engravings by John McWilliams from his fine press monograph Sons and Father which was produced as part of his exhibit at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston, South Carolina. This work celebrates the coastal environment where John resides (McClellanville, South Carolina). Images hand-printed on cream paper.
5 x 7 inches. $75 each.
$275 for framed versions of Self Portrait and Ghost (holding big fish) (see installation shots at top of page, stained hardwood frames, grey mats).

Broadside celebrating the Rubenstein Library dedication. The background is a digitally printed, two image collage (created from a photograph I made of the interior and a detail of the exterior elevation drawing dug up from the archives), and then the text was letterpress printed.
$30. 12 x 16 inches

Heart. Painting with Light by JP Trostle. Mounted on metal. 24 x 30 inches.
$275.
Also. Smaller unframed print. 8 x 12 inches. $80

Artist Book by John Davis. Trick or Treat. Folds down or can be expanded into a row or set up “in the round” as a star. $100

Work a Day Series by Lisa Creed. Framed with museum glass. Appx 8 inch square image. 12 inch square wood frame. Min Bid $275
Please know you can make an appt to view the hundreds of works in her flat file drawer. One piece for $90, two for $150, three for $225.

Noah Saterstrom. Faces. Virginia Woolf. Emily Dickinson. I.M.Pei
$700. Now Reduced to $425.
12 x 12 inches. Oil on canvas.
I met Noah in 1998 when he was teaching at Warren Wilson and I was a visiting artist. Upholding the strictest WW code of conduct, I met with three groups of students, never once setting foot in a classroom. We met under an oak tree, around his wood stove, and in the gallery. Noah is approaching the fourth year of making his Faces paintings and has made over 200 paintings of heros and sheros, many of them made immediately, in one extended sitting, upon learning of their death

Photos of writers working habitat by Rob McDonald from the Hub City Press Book Carolina Writers at Home. Digitally printed from film negatives, edition of 10. Matted in Vintage frames with UV glass.
Allan Gurganus Foyer. appx 12 x 15 inches. $225
Daniel Wallace. Lost. appx 13 inches square. $225
Michael Parker. Cacti. appx 13 x 15 inches. $225

The Four Humours interactive artist book by Mary Yordy.
9 x 12.5 inches when closed, opening to 12.5 x 18 inches. $100