Temptation, Blue Ruin Gallery's first exhibit of 2004, features three artists working in collage (Tamara Moore, Helga Strauss, and David Wallace) and one in stained glass (Sarah Snodgrass).

In addition to sharing an artistic medium, each of the collage artists hold a common motivation, as voiced by David Wallace: "I enjoy creating new realities out of the juxtaposition of disparate elements." With this thread in mind the artists in this exhibit each interpret the complex, often ominous, and always seductive theme of "temptation" in their own unique style. Using tangible objects collected from a variety of sources and eras, the result is a palpable emotional tableau, sometimes dark and unsettling, sometimes enchanting and playful, sometimes profound. David Wallace is a collage artist, graphic designer, and musician living and working in Pittsburgh. A lifelong artist, he has been working in collage for the past ten years. Much of his work relies heavily on old photographs, books, toys, and ephemera found at flea markets and garage sales. "Someone once said that my collage reminds them of a relic that they might find in their grandmother's attic. I try to keep that in mind as I work," David Says. "These are artifacts from an imaginary past created by using pieces of the real one."

Living in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Helga Strauss owns and operates an online shop called ARTchix Studio specializing in vintage images and artsy embellishments for the mixed media artist. She also co-publishes ARTitude Zine. She holds a BA degree in art history from the Blue Ruin-Page TwoUniversity of Oregon and works in a variety of art media: oils, acrylics, paper, found objects-"pretty much anything I can get my hands on." Of her work in Temptation, Helga says, "I combined my love of vintage nudes with acrylics and text from an early 1900s sixth-grade English book. Humor, whimsy and eroticism are found in my pieces."

Tamara Moore owns and operates Blue Ruin Gallery in partnership with Amy Woodall, as well as working as a freelance editor. She has exhibited her work in solo and group shows throughout Ohio and Pittsburgh, most recently at the HardArt show at Penn Gallery and at SALVO's exhibit at Gallery in the Square. The pieces in Temptation evoke an enveloping emotional study, a moment frozen in time from an unspoken story line. Tamara meticulously combines paint techniques, vintage scrap, and paper materials to create these personal fictions. Moore says that curating this exhibit was too tempting to resist: "Being able to present my work along with these amazing artists whom I admire is a real pleasure."