Marissa Bridge Interprets Flowers at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts

New York City and East Quogue artist Marissa Bridge will exhibit a selection of her oil paintings of flowers in A Bridge in Conversation at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in Bridgehampton this month, starting with an artist’s reception from 3–5 p.m. on Saturday, January 9, and concluding on Sunday, February 7.

“I choose the flowers from my gut—something hits me,” Bridge says of her choice to paint floral imagery. Quoting a female personal trainer she knows, the artist explains that her gut is something of a “second brain” and notes that many of the flowers she paints are among the day lilies, hibiscus and black-eyed Susans found in her East Quogue garden. Bridge also purchases her flowers, such as mums and orchids, from the flower market in Manhattan, where she has lived nearly 20 years.

Bridge says she often receives orchids as gifts from friends, and she has come to see them as a symbol of strength. In her “Silent Journey” series, painted from 2012-2015, Bridge depicts the orchid faithfully as found in nature. More recently, in small paintings of nun orchids, the painter approaches the flower from an abstract and architectural style, allowing herself to be looser—so the flowers burst from their little canvas squares.

Bridge says her paintings of mums, however, are about “multiples, meditation and women’s work in repetitive patterns.” Chaos is welcomed in a colorful display.

Presented by Kathy Zeiger of Zeiger Arts, A Bridge in Conversation is Bridge’s second show since returning to painting after nearly 20 years away.

Kathryn Markel Fine Arts is located at 2418 Montauk Highway (Main Street) in Bridgehampton. Call 917-239-04932 or visit zeigerarts.com for more info.