Explore the paradox of life at the Cultural Center

Despite the fact people can die at any moment, they continue to exist as if life is “fixed and unquestionable,” developing relationships, pursuing careers and investing in housing. 

This “Permanent Impermanence” is the theme of the latest exhibit to be featured at the Dartmouth Cultural Center, which is in partnership with the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Women Artists.

“There is absolute peace and understanding, a mindfulness to accept nothing lasts forever,” the show program states.

The 46 pieces in the show will be on display at Center, located at 404 Elm Street, starting until Saturday, Sept. 14. There are 25 artists in the show from all over the country, but also right here in Dartmouth.

Lisa Goren, of Boston, said she has been a member of the National Association of Women Artists for about 15 years and appreciates that the art is all made by women.

She said oftentimes, galleries will have very few pieces by women, “but here it's all women and the strength and diversity of approaches and medium and sizes — it's just amazing.” 

Goren added, “They're all really strong, so it's a great group to be a part of.”

Goren’s watercolors on clay were on display at the Cultural Center, featuring close ups of ice from Alaska and Massachusetts. She said these pieces were inspired by previous works she did after traveling to Antarctica.

“This is from a glacier that was over 10,000 years old, and this is from ice that was a half an hour old,” Goren said of the two pieces, “so in some ways, it's just a question of painting different things that are, in this case, monumental but fragile.”

Lisa Busnengo, of Dartmouth, said she is a newer member of the association, having only been inducted this past March, marking this as her first association exhibit.

Busnengo said her featured piece titled, “Gong,” was named so because it reminds her of one that could be found in a temple — though that wasn’t the original intention of the painting. 

She said she doesn’t like to set a lot of intention when she does her art, calling it “automatic painting.” 

“I just kind of literally go with the flow,” Busnengo added. “I start with one thing and then take a next step and a next step and actually under the painting are two other paintings that I did not like, but I felt like they had more to contribute in a different way.”

She said the idea of reverberated sound and the way sound waves travel and “changes the structure of everything that comes in contact with,” gives the piece its place among the “Permanent Impermanence” theme, adding how permanent objects are now different as a result.

In regard to the exhibit as a whole, Pauline Santos, president of the Board of Directors for the Cultural Center, said, “I think it’s just wonderful. The artists are all women — it makes a statement.”