“The Times,” a painting by Larry Allen.PHOTOS COURTESY SHAW GALLERY

The shows, “Paintings with Words,” “Artist Made Books” and “Jewelry with Words,” explore the symbiosis between objects, images and text.

Paintings with words

Though painter Larry Allen is native of Great Cranberry Island, what he puts on canvas is not your usual Maine fare.

In 12 synthetic polymer paintings, the “consequences of human nature” reveal themselves on large canvases, on which the slogans, icons and buzzwords of our current sociopolitical climate repeat themselves. In a painting aptly entitled, “The Times,” a coal-colored Brooklyn Bridge looms out of the center, beneath the heading, The New York Times.

Familiar media images play themselves out in his work as well. In “Florida, Florida, Florida,” words documenting the devastation of hurricanes there burrow into a satellite image of one of the storms.

Despite the political nuances of his work, Mr. Allen says his aim is not to offer a critique of our times, but merely to reflect them. The words that string themselves through much of his work are “not an attempt at literary expression,” but “are just brush strokes that form part of the composition.”

Mr. Allen, who served as director of The Museum of Modern Art’s publishing office for seven years, now paints on a full time basis, dividing his time between an apartment in Manhattan, a studio in Connecticut and his ancestral home on Great Cranberry.

Artist made books

“I start with a twist – a quirky idea – or maybe comparing two ideas that most people wouldn’t think to compare, that pushes the reader to see things in a new way,” explains Jessica Spring of her creative process.

A brooch by Boris Bally, made from recycled traffic signs.

Book artist Judy Hamm also derives her inspiration from found objects, photos and text, and primarily those she locates at the antique stores and flea markets on Route One in Maine. Bookmaking, however, came late in her artistic career.

“I was a poet for so many years, and I got sick of the sound of my own voice,” she explains.

Other artist made books on exhibit are those of Crystal Cawley, Anne-Claude Cotty, Karen Hamner, Mary Howe, Barbara Richards, Alice Vinson and Cathy Willey.

Jewelry with words

“I usually frown on using words in jewelry,” explains Boris Bally. But in his series of brooches, “Insignia of a New World Order,” it is words that help constitute the designs. The brooches, hand fabricated from recycled traffic signs, are based on the merit badges used in the military, only these badges read “harmony,” “peace” and “love” – virtues that are “much more important than purple hearts,” explains Mr. Bally.

Words, in these pieces, also help subvert the purpose of the military badge. “The thing I like about art is it’s a grey zone, and people can interpret freely,” he says.

Work by jewelers Jim Cotter, Sue Fleming, Hughes/Bosca, Stephanie Lindsey, Micki Lippe and Vernon Theiss will also be on exhibit.