Joy & Peace

The Allie Kussin Gallery
September 12 - December 17, 2025

Opening Reception: September 18, 6-8 PM | RSVP Appreciated

Artists' Talk: October 25, 3 PM | RSVP Form Pending

Contemporary Abstraction by Christiane Corcelle and Jill Goldman-Callahan

Joy & Peace invites the community into a shared emotional landscape and transformative exploration of two universal themes– joy and peace. Through their work in contemporary abstraction, Christiane Corcelle and Jill Goldman-Callahan create a dialogue that is both dynamic and contemplative and build a space for reflection and connection. Whether you’re seeking delight, solace, or a moment of beauty, this exhibition offers a vivid reminder of art’s power to elevate the spirit and connect us with each other. 

Admission is free and the Allie Kussin Gallery is open to all. The works in this exhibition will be on sale via ArtCloud.com after the opening reception; for earlier inquiries, please reach out to Julia@TheUmbrellaArts.org.

About Christiane Corcelle

ARTIST STATEMENT
My background in garden architecture and years of living in different countries have deeply shaped my sense of place and connection to nature and culture. Traveling and experiencing diverse landscapes and colors continue to inspire the palette and textures in my work.

Painting is my way of exploring the world, layer by layer, color by color. It's a combination of experiences, memories, feelings, and emotions, always guided by a belief in the beauty and positivity that can be found in the world.

I often start my paintings by playing with collage using papers I’ve painted or collected, then add paint, scrape back, drip, and respond to what’s happening on the surface. It’s a back-and-forth process, a little bit like dancing. I love walking in nature, especially in the woods, which inspires me and teaches me a lot.

I am interested in contrasts, rough and smooth, light and dark, dull and bright, small and large. Each piece evolves slowly over weeks or months, often being revisited and reworked. These changes leave traces, building layers of history until the painting feels whole. For me painting, above all, is a playground, a space for expression and joy.

BIO
Christiane Corcelle is a French-American mixed media artist with a studio at The Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, MA. Since childhood, she has been drawn to making things by hand, exploring ceramics, weaving, oil painting, sewing, and printmaking long before turning to mixed-media painting.

She originally trained as a landscape architect before joining the French Peace Corps and serving in Africa. She later lived in several countries across Africa and Asia, experiences that continue to inform her sensitivity to pattern, color, and material. She still loves to travel to experience new colors, textures, and cultures, which often find their way into her work.

Her art has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the U.S. and internationally, including in Vietnam, China, Cuba, Peru, Iceland, and Azerbaijan. Her pieces are in notable public and private collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Danang Fine Arts Museum in Vietnam, and the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China. Christiane was awarded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Château d'Orquevaux in France.

About Jill Goldman-Callahan

ARTIST STATEMENT
My art is the product of the enacted rituals of a spiritual painting practice. An antidote to the paradigm of the materialistic world, my paintings embody a sense of peace, reverence for nature and the importance of human connection. Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, calls my work, “Not a painting of, but a peek into”.

I paint responsively, moving between quandary and intrigue, my intuitive expeditions, confirmed by surprise. My textural surfaces, an amalgam of natural materials such as ash, plaster, paper and pumice co-mingle with paint, maintaining a harmony between material and subject. My active surfaces, represent the effects of existence, are weathered through hours of seeking, submerging and sounding.

I poetically abstract three forms, landscape, seeds and floating shapes as content to convey my subject, peace. I call my landscape paintings “Reminiscent” because they convey an experience of place through the elusive lens of memory. My active surfaces contrast with my simple divisions of space, using the concept of above and below as a touchstone. My float series explores suspended shapes touching and connecting, exploring themes of tenderness, closeness and human connection.

My botanical abstractions are inspired by the 19th century plant photographs of Karl Blossfeldt and the Norwegian Svalbard seed vault, where our global seeds lay protected from extinction. These paintings, with their cool winter palette, convey the idea of cold. These imagined seed pods, seen through both micro and macro lenses, show the importance of seeds for food, beauty and our future.

My hope is that my paintings transmit peace to the viewer through their subtle color, earned textures, calming compositions, and sense of being.

BIO
Jill Goldman-Callahan is a contemporary abstract painter interested in mystery, nature and process. She earned a BA in Fine Art and Anthropology from Bennington College and a Masters in Art Therapy from Lesley University. Jill has worked as an art therapist, art educator and studio artist. Her paintings have been shown in multiple juried & solo shows and bring peace and joy to many homes. Jill raised her family in Concord and loves living where Thoreau walked. You can find her experimenting in her studio at the Arts Umbrella or enchanted by a plant.