BRATTLEBORO — “Suspended Disbelief,” a showing of new works by Jana Zeller, goes on exhibit at Gallery in the Woods for November with an opening reception on Friday, Nov. 5, from 5 to 7 p.m.
This new body of work has been created since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown.
As described in a news release, “It explores the atmosphere of abandoned theater spaces, the presence of another world within our world, and ghostly appearances attempting to connect with our surroundings.”
“Each canvas proposes a moment in time when a story suddenly freezes and we hold still, mystified at what is happening and searching for an answer beyond the stillness,” the description continues.
Zeller's paintings are inspired by a lifelong love of puppet theater and by the paintings of the European surrealists of the 1940s. She says she has been drawing and painting since she was a child. She trained for many years as an oil painter and portrait painter, and she worked as a set painter for the theater, the TV and movie industry, and the opera.
As one of the daughters of the founders of Sandglass Theater in Putney, she began painting puppets, sets, and props early on, and later she became a working puppeteer, creating original shows that have been presented in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and India. She performs and teaches puppetry across New England, and she offers art classes for children in her studio in Brattleboro.
For more information, visit galleryinthewoods.com, or contact the gallery at galleryinthewoods@gmail.com or 802-257-4777.