"Founded in 2004, Cynthia Corbett Gallery represents established American, British, and European artists whose works have been acquired by international museums and institutions. The female artists represented at PBM+C were Deborah Azzopardi, Klari Reis, Isabelle van Zeijl, Yuko Nishikawa, Elaine Woo MacGregor, Cristina Schek, Christina Benz, Tuëma Pattie and Freya Bramble Carter & Florence St. George.
The gallery demonstrated thoughtful and compelling curation. While all works were worthy of deliberation, Fern Girl (2022) by Cristina Schek stood out. Schek is a Transylvanian living in London who creates conceptual portraits that explore identity and the nature of representation using literature, films, and art history as inspiration.
The young girl's eyes lock the viewer in her verdant gaze—call it a plea to protect her. In describing the portrait, Schek said:
"Inspired by my love of nature, Fern Girl is a construct of my imagination, a vegetation deity, a Forest Goddess, and emblem of the birth-death-rebirth cycle of the natural year… She speaks to us profoundly in a time of ecological crisis."
