Bryn Jayes, Red Birds, Oil on canvas, 12 x 17 1/2 in.

HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

March 22 - May 11, 2025

Perry Lawson Fine Art is pleased to present Hope is the Thing with Feathers, an exhibition featuring bird-themed artwork by Sharon Falk, Glenn Goldberg, Bryn Jayes, Jackie Shatz, Mckenna van Koppen, and Hanna von Goeler. The title is drawn from Emily Dickinson’s poem of the same name, which serves as a touchstone for the exhibition’s exploration of birds as symbols of hope and resilience. In times of uncertainty, they can remind us of the power of persistence and the possibility of flight beyond hardship. This exhibition pays homage to birds and all they symbolize, offering a space to reflect on hope as an ever-present force.

Sharon Falk paints luminous images of the natural world, capturing their energy and power across time. Growing up in the Southwest shaped her sense of space, instilling endless horizons and a palette inspired by desert light. She explores the movement of light through and around forms, using images of wild creatures—animals, birds in flight—to evoke their innate freedom. These beings reflect the power within each of us as we navigate daily struggles along a path both arcane and familiar. Drawn to the urgency of what is vanishing, she makes sketches in her travels, later translating them into expansive color fields where wet pigment takes on its own alchemy.

Falk earned a BFA from the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, where she received the Paula Rhodes Award. Since moving to New York, she has exhibited widely in the area. She has taught painting and drawing at Pace University, Bergen Community College and Westchester Community college, and has been in artist residencies in Santa Fe, NM, Woodstock, NY, Gatlinburg, TN. Her work is included in numerous private collections. Falk lives and works in Warwick, NY.

Glenn Goldberg is known for his intricate, meditative works that join painting and his particular iconography. The works include repeated motifs like birds, flowers and borders rendered in delicate, layered touches that suggest both organic and patterned structures. Drawing inspiration from various traditions, including decorative tapestries, Eastern philosophy, modern abstraction, tiles and Shaker furniture, he makes it clear that his imagery is not meant to be read literally or as narratives. As he explains, “The touches accumulate and bring with them a peaceful and nurturing spirit. I use the many stitches to build complex structures made of air and water rather than matter. When I’m able to do it well, I find it exciting to experience a built condition that is light, alive, and generous. The hope is to reward prolonged looking.”

Goldberg was born in the Bronx and studied at the New York Studio School before earning an MFA from Queens College. He has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, NEA, Joan Mitchell Foundation, The Sharpe Foundation and others. His work has been widely exhibited in the U.S. and internationally and is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, MOCA LA, and the National Gallery of Art. Goldberg has taught at The Cooper Union, NY Studio School, Queens College, and Parsons School of Design. In 2023, he was commissioned for a public mosaic arts project at the East149th Street subway station in the Bronx. He lives and works in New York City.

Bryn Jayes uses rich, saturated colors in his paintings, drawing from nature as a starting point, with birds and the symbolism of flight serving as central elements in the composition. He says, “It is my aim to create compelling imaginary spaces made from color, texture and light where my imagination can dwell which I want to share with others.” Jayes is a New York-based artist who was born in Nottinghamshire England. He studied painting at the City of Birmingham School of Art obtaining a first class honors degree in Fine Art. He moved to the United States to attend the Yale University School of Art, where he received an MFA in Fine Art Painting. Jayes has exhibited his work at numerous galleries, including The Drawing Center, Graham Modern Gallery, Hirschl & Adler Modern Gallery and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, where he received the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal award. He Lives and works in New York City.

Jackie Shatz creates intimate ceramic wall sculptures layered with mythological and historical allusions. Drawing inspiration from literature, natural history, and fairy tales, her work exists between painting and sculpture and stillness and movement, inviting close observation. The figures' gestures—swimming, floating, and poised in moments of anticipation or hesitation—emerge organically, with their meaning unfolding like dreams. This evolving process fosters a dynamic dialogue among material, artist, and viewer, exploring themes of transformation and humanity's connection to larger forces, weaving past and present into rich, ambiguous narratives.

Shatz received a BFA and an MFA from Hunter College. She has been awarded a NEA Individual Fellowship, a Gottlieb Foundation Grant, a Tree of Life Grant, a Craft Alliance New Techniques grant, and several NYFA SOS grants. She was an artist-in-residence at Kohler Arts/Industry, where she created music box sculptures, and has collaborated on sound and sculptural installations at Wave Hill, Governors Island, and Morris Museum. Her solo exhibitions include Garrison Art Center, Rockland Center for the Arts, Carter Burden Gallery, and an April 2025 show at Garage Art Center. Other shows include Susan Eley Fine Art, Tyger Tyger, the Portrait Society Gallery, the Dorsky Museum, LABspace, Spring Break, and Marquee Projects. She has curated shows at UMass Amherst, The Art Center (St. Petersburg, FL), Henry Street Settlement, and Green Door Gallery in Brooklyn, among others.

Mckenna van Koppen is a contemporary wildlife painter who creates colorful vibrant paintings in mixed media, acrylic, and oil to capture the energy and spirit of wildlife. Her goal is to foster a deeper connection between viewers and the natural world, bringing awareness to the beauty and vitality of the animals she portrays. Through layered textures and bold colors, she invites the audience to lose themselves in of her pieces, evoking both the power and fragility of nature. Influenced by her surroundings and a lifelong appreciation for animals, she translates her passion into art to convey the essence of wildlife through color, movement, and form. She currently lives and works in southern California.

Hanna von Goeler’s love of birds inspired her Migration series, which explores avian and human migration, climate change, and global economics. Painted onto defunct paper currencies, the birds are meant to highlight the interplay between commerce and the environment and warn of shifting habitats and declining populations. Symbolizing freedom and peace, they urge us to move beyond material gain toward a shared world, rethinking the value systems that shape our lives.

Von Goeler received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the University of California, Davis, and she pursued post-graduate study at the Jan van Eyck Academy in the Netherlands. Born in Europe, she moved to the U.S. as an infant. Her bilingual upbringing, international environment, and frequent travels shaped her focus on identity, culture, and perception. She exhibits internationally at venues including Hunter College’s Times Square Gallery, Talbot Rice Gallery, Kunsthal KaDE, Hudson Valley MOCA, Princeton University’s Bernstein Gallery, The Museum of Arts and Crafts Itami in Japan, and The Cumberland Gallery in Nashville. Her ongoing currency work was selected by Robert Storr for exhibition at Exit Art in New York. She has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Art Review, Apollo Magazine, and Studio International, and many others. Based in New Jersey, Von Goeler is represented by High Noon Gallery in New York City.