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Gertrude Abramson
Artist Statement
Resume
ARTIST STATEMENT: for Board review:
Gertrude Abramson
PO Box 89
Artist Statement for Board 2020
I am an artist, Zen priest, and Hospital Chaplain/ teacher/supervisor. I have created art all through my life. I first came up to the
Catskills in 1982 to study Zen Buddhism at Mt.Tremper Monastery, where I stayed for nearly 12 years (transmitted to in 1998). I left
the Monastery to study to become a certified chaplain and later a certified chaplain supervisor. I have worked in almost all NYC
Hospitals (from 1998-2014) as well as Vassar Brothers Medical Center (2014-2020).
I was instrumental in developing The New York Zen Center of NYC, and was a Core teacher and Educational Director for 8 years.
I also taught and created curriculum for Care-givers throughout the NY area, as well as offering numerous workshops, which
covered many topics (care-giving, death and dying, aging, Buddhist practices and Alternative Modalities of Care, among others).
After leaving NYC in 2014 I returned to the Catskills to live in Chichester.
During my entire life I have been creating art (collage, painting, sculpture, mixed media). I studied at the Art Students League
(1970s), and obtained a BFA from Alfred University and an MDIV equivalency from ACPE (chaplains supervisors).
I joined WAAM in 2006, and have had numerous shows in NYC as well as upstate galleries, and received many Honorable
mentions, Awards, magazine interviews (1
st
prize in the Pastel Journal), many solo and group shows, etc; (WAAM Solo Show in
2009, Phyllis M DePaul Memorial Award, and the Sally Jacobs/Phoebe Towbin Highest Award for Excellence in 2014, to name a
few.
I wish to join the WAAM Board in order to represent and be a moral and ethical voice for the Catskill Artists whose art I have loved
and admired on the walls of WAAM for many years. During these difficult times of Covid it feels especially important to bring our
local community of artists together in ways that we can support one another and help to create an atmosphere where artists can
once again show and share their work. I am passionate about this intention and will do my sinceere best.
ARTIST STATEMENT: for collages
My work space is covered with fragments of things from the past and present. Images connect to moments in time, to things half forgotten, to dreams and future fantasies. I tramp through chaos, noises, smells, joys and fears…I work on…something catches my eye. I stare beyond the image, to its time and space. I place it where it pulls me. I change it, relocate, reconnect and before me a new reality emerges. It has its own life now, and if it works…I’m caught in the snare of conclusion.
ARTIST STATEMENT: for painting
I sit in front of a person, flower or landscape and wait for a connection. It’s like falling in love, allowing the “other” to move into my breath and through my hands. When this happens I am led by the desire to somehow find the way to mark this