CAMBRIDGE - Dorchester Center for the Arts is pleased to welcome Lyle Kissack and his exhibition titled “Present Tension” to the galleries for April.

Born in 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, Lyle holds an M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a B.F.A. from University of Texas. He now lives, works and teaches in Baltimore as an adjunct professor of art at UMBC as well as Stevenson University. A constant in both the art and music worlds in Maryland, his artist’s statement for this exhibit reads as follows:

“This body of work began in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine. It felt imperative to find a constructive way to respond to the chaos and loss which have defined

these recent years. Perhaps more than ever, making art is a relentlessly hopeful action.

These pieces vacillate between drawing and painting, occupying neither camp entirely. I’ve always worked quickly and voluminously, finding means to allow a profusion of imagery and ideas to activate the surface and inform the content. This is why I find paper so useful: it’s receptive, light, efficiently stored, and recyclable. Unlike canvas, it resists revisions and layering, thus presenting the interesting challenge of the singular clean pass. I am, at the same time, also drawn to infinite revisions and stratified layering. Many of the canvasses have numerous ‘finished’ paintings buried like fossils beneath their surfaces.

“This work may seem topically tied to the moment — and, therefore, circumstantial — but the broken-ness that inspired it remains an operative force in our daily lives. It feels current, inspired by the present tension in the air. As much as it is uplifting to think of art as enjoyably cathartic, these pieces may be a more painful experience, mirroring the abject bewilderment of our time. I see them as brutally beautiful facts, evidence of all we are going through and all we continue to endure.”

The exhibition will open April 1 and close April 30. A Second Saturday Artist’s Reception will be held April 9 with an artist talk, refreshments and live music. There is no charge, and the public is invited to attend.

For more information on exhibits, programs and classes, visit DCA online at dorchesterarts.org or stop by 321 High Street in Cambridge, on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday, noon to 8 p.m. Programs at DCA are supported by the Maryland State Arts Council. For the latest, find DCA on Facebook, and watch for the new spring program catalog coming soon.