New exhibit on display at Diesel Cafe

By Peta Jinnath Andersen

Last week saw the opening of Rifrakt: an artist collective at the Diesel Cafe. The show features work by 11 members of the Rifrakt artist collective, a staple of the Somerville arts scene since 2009.

Although the funky and eclectic Diesel has hosted many local artists, none have seemed quite as at home in the space as the current Rifrakt show. Up front, near the Diesel counter, a collective wall gives patrons a taste of what to expect, inviting them into the space to explore the individual member walls. Particularly arresting are Erich Roehre’s Clarity, an 18×24” spray paint on canvas work, and Leah Cunningham’s Me & You, a mixed media piece using heart-shaped buttons creatively-and eerily.

Since its 2009 inception, Rifrakt has exhibited in a variety of venues, from coffee shops to art festivals to more traditional gallery shows. Asked about the Rifrakt exhibit, one patron smiles. “I love heading into Diesel,” he says. “It’s always fresh and fun, and the new show is pretty big, has a lot to explore.”

A Philadelphia native, Roehre “mixes his background in modern digital imaging and design with traditional elements of studio art to create modern yet classic portraits.” Cunningham, by contrast, has a love of paper and mod podge; many of her materials “are treasures once lost or discarded amidst everyday items, resurrected in a fresh way.”

Sarah Gay, a 28 year old artist from Connecticut, has several pieces stretching across a blue wall, positioned just a few feet above a row of license plates. Gay, who “spends her time drawing the ordinary and the absurd,” fits neatly into Diesel, almost as much a fixture as the license plates. The slightly fairy tale nature of her work, colorful yet light, is immediately eye-catching, even from a distance; it’s easy to believe the sketch-styled pieces have always hung in the bright Diesel space.

Other artists include co-founder Carolyn Hulbert, Nora Richardson, and Sarah Gay. Hulbert is a printmaker with a focus on etching and silkscreen work; much of her work “embodies ancient beliefs, using information and symbolism to arouse the unconscious.”

Richardson, a Massachusetts native, started her artistic career at Braintree High. “[That] was where and when I started devoting my time and then-potential-future to art, using mainly paint and pencils,” she writes in her bio. Graduating from the Montserrat College of art in 2006 with a BFA, she is now “painting and drawing in Jamaica Plain, tickling my mind with color and characters.”

The Rifrakt exhibit will be on show at the Diesel Cafe at 257 Elm St, Davis Sqaure, for the next two months. For more information, go to www.rifrakt.com. The members of Rifrakt Artist Collective in the exhibit are: Leah Cunningham, William Brent Clem, Sarah Gay, Stephanie Goode, Carolyn Hulbert, Nicholas Kent, Aaron Morris, Chris O’Neill, Nora Richardson, Erich Roehre, Jess Weatherwax.