Art comes in many forms - paintings, ceramics, photography or even collages. Regardless of the medium, it can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, create beauty from the profane, evoke emotions and inspire the imagination.

California State University, Northridge art professors Edward Alfano, Lesley Krane and Magdy Rizk have partnered with artist Magda Audifred for an exhibition in August at the Shatto Gallery in Koreatown to explore “Spatial Harmonies,” using analog and digital media. 

While each of the artists’ work is unique and they use different mediums, Alfano said there is also “a commonality.”

“It has to do with the use of space and design,” he said. “When you look at our works together, I see harmony. I see rhythm. I see music. We all created different ‘songs,’ but they’re integrated.” 

Alfano, who teaches in the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication, uses black and white photography to produce images that transcend the moment captured and embrace the possibilities. 

“In a fraction of a second, a photograph captures all things literal, emotional and spiritual,” he said. “My quest reveals the timeless harmony in nature, not equated with a moment in time, but leaving time as a dimension that is ill-defined and experienced in other ways. I hope the images lead to wonder, contemplation and imagining, sometimes resolution, sometimes not.”

 Krane’s collages and color photographs create spatial, non-literal relationships. She described her work as “reductive abstract compositions, whether handstitched or lens based, colorful or muted,” that “become visually detached from their original context and emphasize a psychological space beyond their physical dimensions or practical function.”

Rizk’s work involves layers of resin that function as abstract landscapes that illustrate “the interplay of profane and divine elements,” he said.

“My visual narrative unfolds as a commentary on the juxtaposition of worldly indulgence and spiritual awakening,” Rizk continued. “My visual landscapes reveal levels of human progression, using various media and materials embedded within layers of epoxy resin.”

Audifred manipulates color, creating compositions that suggest dimensional forms; they are abstractions but have tangential connections with objective forms. 

“To me, artistic expression is a manifestation of the human experience” she wrote. “Art to me is a blessing of consciousness in which imagination and conceptualizations create a unique human bond between the artist and the viewer.” 

The exhibition runs through Aug. 3 through 31 at the gallery located at 3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 104. An opening reception is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 3. An artists’ talk about the exhibition will take place from 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31, followed by closing reception from 3 to 5 p.m.