Pat O’Connor, K.C. Rosenberg, Emily Shepard – Material Messages

October 23 – November 28, 2026

Artists’ Opening Reception: Saturday, October 24, 3 – 5 pm

Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: November 6, 5 – 9 pm

Material Messages brings together three artists whose abstract practices are guided by a collaboration with their materials. Each follows a distinct pathway, using stains, layering, repetition, text fragments, and evidence of the body as carriers of information.

Pat O’Connor considers the histories held in ordinary objects. Found and repurposed cardboard becomes a layered assemblage, taking on new form while traces of its previous life remain. K.C. Rosenberg uses words and fragments of language as both material and meaning. Removed from conventional narrative, words shift between language and form, creating a space where recognition gives way to abstraction and interpretation remains open. Emily Shepard builds forms through mark-making and assembly, emphasizing presence. Gestures and materials come together into surfaces that echo experience, attention, and movement.

Together, the artists invite viewers to slow down and consider what material can reveal through their surfaces, histories, and transformations.