Pat O’Connor, K.C. Rosenberg, Emily Shepard: Material Messages

Left to right: KC Rosenberg, “Redeem,” 2017, Acrylic paint and laser cut canvas on felt 8”x 9” unframed, 13”x16” framed (photo courtesy of the artist); Emily Shepard, “Approach I,” 2026, acrylic, ink, canvas, thread on panel, 24” x 30”. Photo: Sibila Savage; Pat O’Connor, “A Realignment” 2024, Salvaged cardboard, acrylic paint 22 in H x 120 in W x 12 in D. Photo: Jeannie O’Connor

Material Messages brings together three artists whose abstract practices are guided by a collaboration with their materials. Each follows a distinct pathway, using stains, layering, repetition, text fragments, and evidence of the body as carriers of information.

Pat O’Connor considers the histories held in ordinary objects. Found and repurposed cardboard becomes a layered assemblage, taking on new form while traces of its previous life remain. K.C. Rosenberg uses words and fragments of language as both material and meaning. Removed from conventional narrative, words shift between language and form, creating a space where recognition gives way to abstraction and interpretation remains open. Emily Shepard builds forms through mark-making and assembly, emphasizing presence. Gestures and materials come together into surfaces that echo experience, attention, and movement. Together, the artists invite viewers to slow down and consider what material can reveal through their surfaces, histories, and transformations.