“CITIZEN X”: This work by Maria de Los Angeles is part of the Arts Council of Princeton’s “A Voice to be Heard” exhibition, on view April 10 through May 8 in the Taplin Gallery.

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) will present “A Voice to be Heard” in its Taplin Gallery April 10 through May 8.

The exhibition explores the idea of the inner voice and the ongoing search for meaning, connection, and sense of place. The artists touch on ideas of belonging that seem truly important in contemporary life and in a society that too often feels polarized and isolated, inviting us to reflect on our points of view and shared humanity.

Joyce Kozloff, in her series “girlhood,” visually collaborated with her younger self through using childhood drawings in her current work that reflect on her education and perception of the world. She explains that through the work “a visual dialogue between my childhood and adulthood … my conventional grammar school innocence felt weirdly relevant within our polarized society, where so many people hold onto fantasies about recovering an imaginary past.”

The role of story in shaping knowledge, assumptions, our own origins and political views is similarly explored by Maria de Los Angeles through the voice of the personal. She exposes the internalized dialogue and external  narratives surrounding migration through humor, story, facts, and allegory. A deeply felt voice blends the political, personal, and the mythological together.

Martha Tuttle turns her attention to the sublime, finding inspiration in the vast space of the West, its almost invisible processes and moments, and the relationship of her physicality to place reflected through process. She invites viewers to a different type of listening, a more physical and slow one. She explains, “I see these practices as allowing material variation, as well as touch (my own, a place’s, a process’) to be recorded into material form. Looking towards the future, I would like my practice to center in the study of the potentially vital relationship between the noticed/touched/cared for object and growing a practice of tenderness to our external world.”

A search for connection is explored and questioned by Buket Savci in her paintings. She says, “I explore abundance versus emotional craving. Observing both the loneliness and need for attention, accompanied with consumerism frenzy globally.”

Adam Moss takes a quieter look at human connection through portraiture of friends and family considering the psychology of the self and implication of the gaze. His portraits are vulnerable, sympathetic, stylized, and convey a sense of alienation and mystery. The subject has an intense gaze joyously juxtaposed by delicate application, color, and detail. He explains “I wanted to make portraits rooted in realism that were heavily influenced by the subjective eye.”

That need to collect memories of our experiences is visible in the work of Ryan Bonilla, who through photography captures the spontaneity of everyday life in his culture. His work represents the feeling, ambiance, and freedom of his lifestyle and captures the rawness and innocence lost in our age and society.

Shelter Serra similarly looks at society for its voice, the role of technology, and of production. Serra says, “by continually repeating the same structure, similarities and differences emerge — reflecting on our own individuality in a world of progress and chaos.”

Brooklyn Based artist, designer, and filmmaker Frenel Morris creates lucid, intimate paintings capturing simulacrum in seemingly ordinary objects to deliver a vivid copy of reality. 

Curator Maria de Los Angeles will be featured in an “In Conversation” virtual artist talk on Tuesday, April 13 at 7 p.m. Free registration is available on artscouncilofprinceton.org.

Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Arts Council of Princeton is located at 102 Witherspoon Street. For more information, visit artscouncilofprinceton.org.