Artists ‘Think Big’ about feminine spirit

Snow and sleet didn’t stop more than 400 people from attending this year’s art and photography exhibit, “Women of the World: Think Big,” on March 3. For its second consecutive year, the event is a kickoff to National Women’s Heritage Month, and was hosted by Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive Building in Mineola.

“It was an outstanding event, even with the weather,” said Maragos. “The art was extraordinary and inspiring.”

The art was curated by Jill Rader Levine and compiled work from 57 local Long Island female artists.

Levine explained that the artists and photographers were not selected for the exhibit based on their artwork, “but because they each have a history of promoting the arts here on Long Island through their volunteerism or leadership in an art organization and or entrepreneurial endeavors.”

Maragos has hosted the event for the past two years in an effort, “to promote our local talent and spur further growth in our local art industry.”

The night consisted of an award ceremony recognizing the first, second and third place winners as well as honorable mentions in the area of fine arts and photography. The awards were determined by a panel of 11 distinguished judges in the field of the arts.

Levine asked the artists to “Think Big,” specifying that the artworks had to be on a large scale. This year, “many [artworks] were very large and grabbed the viewers’ attention,” said Levine.

Another requirement was the use of “one woman” as the central focus of the piece.

“Each work of art had its own story to tell,” explained Levine, “about the feminine mystique and a moment in the life of a woman - past, present and future.”

Many of the artists gave their work a global twist by portraying women from all over the world. Some even chose historical figures as the subject of their piece.

There were two first-place winners, one in the area of fine arts and the other in photography. Carrie Anne Gonzalez, the first-place photography winner for her portrait “Expecting Mother,” has a passion for photographing women.

“I really do enjoy photographing women,” Gonzalez said. “I find them all fascinating and beautiful.”

Katherine Trunk, the first-place fine art winner’s piece, “A Single Journey,” combined a variety of mediums including acrylic paint, gesso, tissue paper, gold flecks and color pencils.

Trunk explained that her piece is autobiographical.

“In every piece which an artist creates, a piece of the artist is shared, opened up with the viewer, the artist is opening its world with the one who chooses to see it,” Trunk said.