11/3 – 11/30/23: “Superterrestrial Garden” at Blah Blah Gallery, Philadelphia

Superterrestrial Garden 
November 3 – December 1, 2023 
Blah Blah Gallery 
Philadelphia, PA, USA 

Blah Blah Gallery presents Superterrestrial Garden by Alaina Kalbfell and carrie R, two artists whose work transcends traditional boundaries to evoke profound emotions and unveil the enigmatic aspects of human existence.  

Alaina Kalbfell’s paintings conjure surreal and otherworldly figures, faces, and spaces. Her canvas becomes a portal into the depths of identity, emotion, mental health, dreams, and the subconscious. Alaina’s unique process involves staining raw canvas, employing a wet-on-wet technique to create ethereal, emotive figures that hover on the cusp between abstraction and figuration. The result is a series of beings both hauntingly unfamiliar and strangely recognizable, offering a glimpse into the profound emotive mysteries that lie within each of us. 

Simultaneously, carrie R creates free-standing and wall-based sculptures, dramatically patinated with embedded, blended pigments and rough applications of oil color. carrie’s work is influenced by psychological fiction, mobility, and the intimacy of domestic environments. It unearths the visceral reactions triggered by personal histories such as freak accidents or solitary moments. The sculptures, often pointed, plant-like, and biomorphic, delve into themes of fear, solitude, self-preservation, and beauty. These forms prompt viewers to contemplate the intricate interplay between human emotions and the world that surrounds us, and to explore the exquisite tension between vulnerability and strength, fragility and resilience. 

Superterrestrial Garden offers a journey through the profound and mysterious realms of the human experience.