"The Ladies" is a series of collage paintings by Canadian born Leslie Fandrich, an artist living in the Hudson Valley who has a background in photography and graphic design. This exhibition, which invites you into her world of feminine images, is installed in a cozy room at the back of Dream in Plastic at 177 Main Street in Beacon, New York.

If you have the opportunity to hear Leslie Fandrich talk about her work, she will tell you a story. Each element in her work seems to have meaning. There is a female sphinx, Joan of Arc, crowns, dancers, laser guns, weapons, broken up type, fabric patterns, maps, music sheets - the repetition of these images creates a cohesiveness to the work. Despite their varied components, the works are marked by a singular unity. The exhibition flows smoothly, each piece leading to the next. The artist explores surface using wood panels, canvas and paper as her supports. Some of the works are large, and some are small but all are powerful.

The female figures connect with the viewer through their bodies or their eyes. They call you closer and invite you to wander in the world of texture, scribbles, letters, music and ambiguity. The lines and shapes move your eye around each collage with wonder. There is harmony, rhythm and power, both delicate and forceful. There is an antiquity to many of the papers used, juxtaposed with the modern images of women from fashion. The show asks many questions. How does she get the surface of newspaper to take on that texture? What is the relationship between different identifiable objects in the pictorial space? What is the story here? What is the significance?

Leslie Fandrich's "Ladies" are both decorative and wild. Her works are compelling, contemporary, and timeless.

Don't miss her next exhibition.