“WEATHER CONSTRUCT”: The Arts Council of Princeton’s first Taplin Gallery show of 2024 is “Waiting to Detonate,” a mixed media exhibition featuring Andrew Chalfen, whose work is shown here, Katelyn Liepins, and Ida Ochoteco.

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) now presents “Waiting to Detonate,” a group exhibition by Andrew Chalfen, Katelyn Liepins, and Ida Ochoteco, on view in the Arts Council’s Taplin Gallery through February 3.

“Waiting to Detonate” features work in vibrant colors and shapes that, sometimes literally, burst off the canvas and onto the floor.

Chalfen’s mixed media pieces feature patterns that vibrate, bloom, cluster, and break apart in dazzling color. At times, they are constructivist, abstract, geometric, and even psychedelic. They may allude to aerial views, cartography, architectural renderings, musical notation, urban-like densities, and impenetrable data arrays.

Chalfen is fascinated by patterns, how they ripple, radiate, refract, bloom, interact, cluster, construct, and deconstruct. His works allude to aerial views, cartography, architectural renderings, musical notation, urban densities, and other natural and man-made patterns, while not literally being any of those things. Rather, his pieces reflect his psychological states during their creation, a kind of topography of thought and mood as he works through various aesthetic themes that have long held his attention.

The heart of Liepins’ installation lies in the arrangement of colored tape, meticulously adhered to the walls and floors, creating intricate patterns that appear to evolve and meander throughout the space. These patterns serve as a visual labyrinth, drawing visitors into a world of interconnected lines and shapes that seem to pulse with energy. It’s an invitation to explore the beauty of patterns in unexpected places and to discover the artistry in the act of wandering.

Liepins has been working with lines and how they can exist beyond the traditional drawing form for the past few years. She is constantly challenging what is a drawing and how can it exist in multiple mediums, her favorite being tape. Coming from a family of architects, she is attracted to the sharp crisp lines within a space and uses them consistently within her art.

Ochoteco’s pieces are a departure from traditional collages. Her use of color, textures and geometrical shapes dance in an “organized” mess. The “implosion” series is her apocalyptic view of a world that is imploding in many aspects.

Ochoteco was born in Hamburg, Germany, and spent her formative years in the U.S., Japan, Mexico, and Uruguay before taking her Basque-Italo-Uruguayan roots around the world, ultimately settling in New Jersey. Inspired by artists like Piet Mondrian, Joaquín Torres-García and Andy Warhol, she creates abstract collages by recycling paper from magazines, books, catalogs, junk mail, post cards, brochures, gift bags, etc. The pieces are finished with a thin layer of clear resin.

The Arts Council of Princeton is at 102 Witherspoon Street. It is free and open to the public. For more information, visit artscouncilofprinceton.org.