FORT MYERS, FLA.- As a theme, “the body, fragility and time,” when proposed in October of 2019, was inspiring—even novel—for the four artists in this exhibition. One bewildering year later it feels prophetic. Not to mention universal. Too soon to be a response to Covid-19, the show is instead a record of enduring a pandemic by women artists who engage their bodies in their art. In When We See Further, the Wasmer Gallery at Florida Gulf Coast University presents these noted South Florida creatives in conversation. They and curator John Loscuito worked collaboratively to create a physical and virtual exhibition both timely and inspired, complete with dance performance.

Heather Couch, of West Palm Beach, is an uncommon ceramicist. “The idea of precariousness and fragility underlies a lot of my work,” she readily admits. In a manner both playful and reflective, she lets the material and forms guide her, each step informed by the preceding one. The viewer encounters large vessels and even installations of ceramic (with wood) often imbalanced—even unstable—all bearing the imprint of the artist’s hand, and many further softened with raw sheep’s wool.




Marina Font, a native of Argentina who lives in Miami, started out in photography but her work is now photo-based. The photograph is no longer the end-product but rather the starting point. In fact, the same photo—a female figure in an anatomic pose—is used over and over, each time elaborated with embroidery and other materials. “My work is deeply rooted in psychoanalysis,” Font explains. “I want to bring the unconscious to the surface, both literally and metaphorically.” The rich materiality of the surface pulls the viewer in to discover the truths beneath.

Renée Rey, who lives in Bonita Springs, Florida and New York City, is a courageous artist who aims to challenge both traditional landscapes and figurative art. As she explains it, her large, ethereal paintings “portray alternative universes and transformative self-portraits, a search for the sublime in favor of the temporal, the spiritual versus the physical.” Exploring 3- and 4-dimensionality, she seeks connections and commonalities with the hope of bridging people around the world. Recent events have led her to rethink what it means to be connected when we are so separate.

Terre Rybovich, resident of Homestead, is a life-long draw-er whose technique utilizes both her hands and body. “Drawing backward” was the initial idea, to cover the paper with charcoal and then erase the image. Focused on figure drawing, she tried lying on the drawing. “What I didn’t expect was when I let the imprint guide me in the process, I made drawings I never imagined.” Also, as a devoted birder, Rybovich draws birds from her photos. In quarantine these icons of freedom grew huge, and the artist captured both the process of drawing as well as the bird.

To heighten the themes of body, time and fragility, Taylor Greco has choreographed a dance to be performed within the exhibition When We See Further. A senior dance major at Palm Beach Atlantic University, Greco designed the work in collaboration with accomplished dancer and PBAU Dance Professor Kathleen Klein.