May 28 - June 23, 2026

Shapeshifter: Paulette Esrig, George Goodridge, and Daniel Pailes-Friedman

Memories of Colors and Shapes: Robin Seligman-Schmidt

On The Wall: Tree Line: Joy Nagy

Reception: Thursday, May 28, 6pm - 8pm
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Carter Burden Gallery presents three exhibitions: Shapeshifter, the first exhibition with the gallery for Paulette Esrig, George Goodridge, and Daniel Pailes-Friedman, explores movement, transformation, and the expressive potential of form in space; Memories of Colors and Shapes in the West Gallery features colorful, nature-inspired monotypes by Robin Seligman-Schmidt; and Tree Line, an installation by Joy Nagy, is presented in the space On the Wall. The reception will be on Thursday, April 23 from 6pm to 8pm. The exhibitions run from May 28-June 23, 2026, at 548 West 28th Street in New York City. The gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 5 pm, Saturday 11 am - 6 pm.

Shapeshifter

Through the application of dynamism, form, and spatial perception across three distinct artistic practices, Shapeshifter unites the work of Paulette Esrig, George Goodridge, and Daniel Pailes-Friedman. Paulette Esrig’s white ceramic sculptures, with titles such as I Still Dream I’m Dancing, evoke the energy and movement of Futurism through abstract forms that appear to twist, sway, and unfold in space. George Goodridge’s three-dimensional paintings are created using canvas smoothly stretched over armatures to form abstract shapes that extend into the viewer’s space. Drawing upon sacred geometry, color theory, and form signaling, his work examines the emotional and psychological responses elicited by shape and color. Daniel Pailes-Friedman’s geometric oil paintings similarly investigate the relationship between form and space, constructing undulating fields of color that balance fullness and emptiness, positive and negative space. As the artist describes, he seeks to create “compositions where forms can breathe—where space is as vital as shape—bringing fluidity and balance to the piece.” Though realized through entirely different materials and processes, the works in Shapeshifter share a commitment to movement, transformation, and the expressive potential of form in space.

Paulette Esrig

Paulette Esrig creates abstract ceramic sculptures that explore movement, rhythm, and transformation through expressive hand-built forms. Influenced by the dynamics of music and dance, her work often evokes swirling motion and organic energy while maintaining a deeply sculptural presence. In recent years, Esrig’s practice has also reflected personal experiences of loss and the gradual deterioration of vision, incorporating broken edges, visible fingerprints, scratches, and layered surfaces that emphasize both fragility and resilience. Working primarily with terra sigillata alongside glazes, slips, underglazes, and washes, she repeatedly fires her pieces at varying temperatures to achieve richly nuanced surfaces and interiors. Through an intuitive process of construction and revision, Esrig creates works that balance abstraction, gesture, and material sensitivity.

Paulette Esrig is a ceramic sculptor whose lifelong engagement with the arts has been shaped by music, dance, and sculpture. The daughter of sculptor and printmaker Lily Ente, she grew up surrounded by artistic practice, observing the processes of clay casting and stone carving from an early age. As a child, she studied dance with Lillian Rosenberg, a follower of Isadora Duncan, an experience that instilled a lasting sensitivity to movement, rhythm, and physical expression that continues to inform her sculpture. Although severe asthma led her away from dance and toward music, she became an accomplished pianist, performing at Carnegie Hall and with orchestras before later pursuing career in teaching music, elementary education, and literacy. Esrig began formally studying ceramics at Hudson Guild before continuing her practice at Greenwich House Pottery and the 63rd and 92nd Street Y’s. Initially focused on functional wheel-thrown forms in stoneware and porcelain, she gradually transitioned to hand-built sculpture, integrating decades of artistic observation and experimentation into an expressive abstract practice. Now in her nineties and working despite advanced vision and hearing loss, Esrig continues to create sculptural works in clay with the support of her husband, Bernard Esrig, and her artistic community.

George Goodridge

George Goodridge is a visual artist and researcher whose practice explores the intersection of mythology, science, and perception through contemporary reinterpretations of iconic imagery. Inspired by ancient artifacts, hieroglyphics, and architecture, his work investigates the relationship between the tangible world and unseen realms of experience, drawing connections to emerging understandings of the quantum realm. Through the integration of sacred geometry, color theory, and form signaling, Goodridge creates layered abstract compositions that examine the ways form and color shape emotional and psychological responses. His distinctive visual language merges sculptural form with painterly surface, inviting viewers into spaces of introspection, curiosity, and contemplation while fostering a sense of connection and mystery.

George Goodridge received a BFA from the School of Visual Arts following studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He previously served as Senior Technical Adviser to the student body at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and taught Visual Techniques at the School of Visual Arts. Best known for his three-dimensional canvas works, Goodridge has been awarded residencies including the Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation Residency at Mana Contemporary in 2018, the 14C Arts Special Projects Residency in Jersey City for 2025–26, and studio and print lab residencies at Oolite Arts. His work has been exhibited at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, the Boca Raton Museum of Art, and numerous galleries and art fairs, including Art Basel Miami Beach. His work is included in the collections of United Airlines, The Related Group, Banyan Capital Investments, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Originally from Miami, Florida, Goodridge currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Daniel Pailes-Friedman

Daniel Pailes-Friedman approaches painting as an exploration of balance, intuition, and perception, informed in part by the contemplative principles of meditation. His work investigates the relationship between color, form, and spatial tension, using shifts between transparency and opacity, brightness and restraint, to create rhythm, movement, and atmosphere within the composition. Deeply attuned to the ways colors interact and respond to one another, Pailes-Friedman likens their relationships to musical harmonies, where meaning emerges through contrast and connection. His process moves fluidly between spontaneous gesture and deliberate decision-making, alternating between instinctive mark-making and careful consideration of tone, balance, and structure. Whether completed quickly or developed over an extended period, each painting becomes part of an ongoing visual dialogue and evolving creative investigation.

Daniel Pailes-Friedman is a New York-based artist whose work has been exhibited extensively in galleries and museums throughout the United States, including the Alexandria Museum of Art, Monmouth Museum, Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, and the Ely Center of Contemporary Art. He has presented solo exhibitions at Art Lab and the Bonfoey Gallery, and his work has been featured in New York City at Van Der Plas Gallery, Agora Gallery, and Art Mora Gallery. Pailes-Friedman has also exhibited with Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Owens Contemporary, M Fine Arts, and Art Resources Gallery, among others. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute in 1983.

Memories of Colors and Shapes

Robin Seligman-Schmidt

In Memories of Colors and Shapes, Robin Seligman-Schmidt presents abstract works inspired by nature and the visual rhythms of the world around her. Responding to the interplay of line, shape, and color, she explores how these elements create movement, spatial relationships, and emotional resonance within her compositions. Her printmaking process often begins with shapes cut from craft foam, derived from organic forms and developed through multiple iterations from preliminary newsprint studies into finished monotypes layered with texture and transparency. Having worked for many years primarily in watercolor, Seligman-Schmidt has more recently embraced monotype printmaking, finding interest in the distinct yet complementary transparencies and luminous qualities shared by both mediums.

Robin Seligman-Schmidt, born on Long Island and based in Manhattan, is a painter and printmaker. She earned a BFA from Syracuse University, including a year of art study in London, and later studied painting while living in Germany. She also received a BA in Interior Design from Parsons School of Design. Seligman-Schmidt continued her artistic training through years of painting study at the 92nd Street Y and printmaking studies at the Carter Burden Leonard Covello Older Adult Program, where she completed an artist residency from January through April 2025, culminating in a solo exhibition. Her work has been presented in several group exhibitions as well as a solo exhibition at John Jay College.

Tree Line

Tree Line, an installation by Joy Nagy in the space On the Wall, is a visual study of trees rendered in graphite on paper. Measuring six feet in height, each work stands at human scale, transforming the wall into a forest of upright forms that evoke a sense of standing amongst a crowd. Each portrait conveys the tenacity, strength, and quiet power of this enduring species while drawing subtle parallels to the human form. Trunks, branches, scars, and textures echo anatomical features, like spines, limbs, and skin, suggesting a relationship between humanity and the natural world. Nagy’s practice is rooted in personal history, lived experience, and an ongoing engagement with nature. Family narratives, memory, and observation shape her approach, allowing each endeavor to emerge from both emotional and material inquiry. Working across drawing, painting, ceramics, installation, audio, and assemblage, Nagy selects her media based on what best serves each project. In Tree Line, graphite becomes both tool and metaphor, capable of expressing delicacy and density, fragility and permanence.

The installation reflects on the role of trees as observers to human life and transformation. As Suzi Gablik writes in Magritte: “Growing from the earth towards the sun, a tree is an image of certain happiness… When we are moving, it is the tree which becomes the spectator… It is witness… to the more or less agitated spectacle of our life… The tree, having become a coffin, disappears into the earth. And when it is transformed into fire, it vanishes into the air.” Joy Nagy’s Tree Line affirms drawing as a powerful, immersive medium and positions the tree not only as a natural object, but as a living archive, bearing witness to personal histories, collective memory, and the fragile balance between humanity and the environment.

Joy Nagy, a native New Yorker, earned an Associate Degree of Applied Science at Fashion Institute of Technology where she majored in Apparel Design and has studied at The New York Studio School with Graham Nickson, The Art Students League in New York City with anatomist Frank Porcu, and the Bottega del Tintoretto in Venice, Italy. She has been shown in in solo exhibitions at The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, New York City; Goggle Works Center for the Art, Reading Pennsylvania; The Staten Island Museum, New York; Koussevitzky Art Gallery, Massachusetts; Moray Art Centre, Findhorn, Scotland; and curated in group exhibitions in the United States and abroad. Nagy has been awarded artist residencies at Jentel Artist Residency, Banner, Wyoming; Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont; Heliker-LaHoton Foundation, New York; Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York; Governors Island Residency, New York; Saltonstall Foundation, New York; and Ox-Bow, Michigan where she received the Centennial Artist Award. She was recently awarded ‘The President Purchase Prize’ from Huntley College of Agriculture at Cal Poly Pomona. Nagy currently lives and works in Manhattan.

Tree Line is on view until June 23, 2026.