SYNTHESIS
BACKROOM GALLERY
ANDREA BREWSTER, JESSICA CADKIN, MARY CURTIS RATCLIFF
September 6 – October 19, 2024
Artists’ Reception: September 14, 4 – 6 pm
Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: September 6, October 4, 5 – 9 pm
In their latest works, Andrea Brewster, Jessica Cadkin, and Mary Curtis Ratcliff converge around the themes of nature and memory; each bringing a unique approach to the synthesis of old and new, real and imagined.
Brewster employs digital tools, including AI, to create compositions that capture the essence of nature. By blurring the line between reality and imagination, representation and abstraction, her pieces present a dreamlike realm where the familiar transforms; inviting viewers to engage with nature in new and thought-provoking ways. Continuing her experimentation with 35-millimeters slides from the 1950s through the 1970s, found at the estate sale of a deceased 100-year-old dentist, Cadkin scans, layers, and alters the slides to create unexpected landscapes. Ratcliff continues this theme of synthesis in her new circular works featuring cut-outs of starlings. Building on her long-standing exploration of birds in both 2- and 3-dimensional compositions, her latest creations examine symmetry and pattern, interconnectedness and harmony. Together, the three artists’ works reflect a shared commitment to integrating diverse influences, perspectives, and materials to create art that is new a meaningful.
Andrea Brewster, This is knot a bird – Magpie, 2024; Mary Curtis Ratcliff, Starling Symmetry, 2024; Jessica Cadkin, Magic Castle, 2024
Gallery
Jessica Cadkin
Jessica Cadkin was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and grew up in Napa, California. She received a BA in Sculpture and Painting from San Francisco State University and currently works out of her studio in Oakland, CA. Her work has appeared in group shows internationally and throughout Northern California including Headlands Center for the Arts, Southern Exposure, di Rosa Preserve, Bateman Foundation Gallery of Nature, Bedford Gallery, Root Division, and the Berkeley Art Center.
Mary Curtis Ratcliff
Mary Curtis Ratcliff studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and then participated in the early video movement in New York City, from 1969 to 1972. Ratcliff’s fifty-year career has seen her explore many different media including kinetic and freestanding sculpture and 2D photo-based mixed media, often using imagery stemming from nature. Her artwork has been featured in over thirty solo exhibitions and more than one hundred and thirty group shows. Her work is represented in the collections of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Oakland Museum of California.
Andrea Brewster
Andrea Brewster is a multidisciplinary artist who investigates the intersection of nature, fiber art, and technology through intricate forms and layered textures. Brewster earned a B.A. in Sculpture from Pomona College and an M.F.A. in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute. A 1993 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant recipient, she has exhibited widely in the San Francisco Bay Area, with solo shows at Mercury 20, The Lab, and Southern Exposure, as well as group exhibitions at Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, The Oakland Museum, and the Peninsula Museum. Her work has been featured in fiber art exhibitions in Ireland and the U.S. She participated in the Djerassi Resident Artist Program, and presented at the Doily Free Zone Contemporary Lace Symposium. In 2025, her AI work appeared at Load Gallery, Barcelona, and in the book “Neo Botanica.” She has been a member of Mercury 20 Gallery since 2020.