New Work By Melinda Hackett

DANBURY — Thirteen Gallery is presenting an exhibition of recent paintings and watercolors by Melinda Hackett until March 8. Ms Hackett’s paintings are loosely based on the circle, and they explore the wide range of possibilities that the motif offers.

In Ms Hackett’s paintings circles are laid over each other to create an effect of slow, deliberate movement. The densely patterned, delicate forms evoke organic, botanical environments on one hand, and on the other, reference a world of dynamic and intricate design.

The paintings are influenced by a wide range of sources, including the Vienna Werkstadt, 20th Century French tapestry work, Venetian glass, the textile designs of the Austrian designer Joseph Frank, and the work of the German biologist Ernst Haekel. The artist’s interest in inventing forms based on a cellular structure suggest that the viewer decide if what they are seeing represents a microcosm or a macrocosm, a single cell or an entire universe.

Color is also an important element in the paintings, and each piece is infused with brilliant, jewel-like tones which only serve to intensify the relationships of the forms.

Melinda Hackett’s work has most recently been shown at Tonje Gallery in Brewster, N.Y., The North Salem Free Library, and The Mill Reef Club, in Antigua, Wisc. Ms Hackett holds an MFA from Parsons School of Design. She lives and works in North Salem, N.Y.

Thirteen Gallery is open Saturdays from noon to 4 pm and by appointment. Call 914-669-8962 for information or to make an appointment. The gallery is at 13 Library Place, off Main Street.