‘Mirage’ coming to Great Neck Arts Center

The Island Now

A new art show, Mirage, is coming to The Great Neck Arts Center Art Gallery in January. It features the work of internationally acclaimed artist Fareen Butt, who uses the unique medium of precious and semi-precious stones and metals combined with pigment and applies the mixture to canvas.

The show, free and open to the public, begins with a complimentary reception with the artist on Sunday, January 16, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the arts center.

Butt’s work has been exhibited internationally in Dubai, Pakistan, New York and Egypt. She has upcoming shows scheduled for Canada, France, Germany, Bangladesh and India.

The artist’s gemstone technique is a cross between South and Far East Asian, blended with European classical methods including an application process similar to that of Pointillism, a style associated with the French artist, Seurat. Influenced by the traditional Japanese Nihonga technique, Ms. Butt creates works in which she mixes pigments with minerals.

More than seven years ago, Ms. Butt began studying and experimenting with this technique, and started to use minerals more traditionally known to geologists and rock collectors for their physical characteristics and abilities. Her works can contain pure gold and silver, as well as sapphire, onyx, witherite and minerals derived from meteors.

The artwork was conceptually inspired by sacred landscapes and the Sufi and Vedic philosophies of light, and formed by various legends and religious belief systems, physically depicting places believed to be sacred by cultures around the world.

“Expressed through the solid, exceptional medium of gemstones and precious metals, the works embody the opulent existence of permanence and omnipresence found to permeate from these landscapes,” Butt said. “Like a mirage on the horizon, there is a more ethereal perspective upon these lands captured by the paintings.”

The Great Neck Arts Center Gallery show, which runs from January 16-March 20, is open Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Gallery is located at 113 Middle Neck Road, above the Clearview Squire Cinemas, with a main entrance facing the Maple Drive municipal parking lot.

For further information about the show, call The Arts Center at 829-2570 or visit its website, www.greatneckarts.org.

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