The document describes Dianne Smith's artwork series titled "Ma" that was featured at the RFA Gallery OHBM Gala on February 23, 2012. It provides background information on the concept of "negative space" and "ma" which refers to the space between compositional elements. The series consists of 6 paintings titled Ma I through Ma VI created in 2012 using oil, oil stick, and acrylic on canvas measuring 30 x 12 inches.

1. Dianne Smith
RFA Gallery
OHBM Gala February 23, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012

2. Negative space, in art, is the space around and between the subject(s)
of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space
around a subject, and not the subject itself, forms an interesting or
artistically relevant shape, and such space is occasionally used to artistic
effect as the "real" subject of an image. The use of negative space is a
key element of artistic composition. The Japanese word "ma" is
sometimes used to articulate this idea.
Ma can be roughly translated as "gap", "space", "pause" or "the space
between two structural parts. The spatial concept is experienced
progressively through intervals of spatial designation. In Japanese, ma,
the word for space, suggests interval. It is best described as a
consciousness of place, not in the sense of an enclosed three-
dimensional entity, but rather the simultaneous awareness of form and
non-form deriving from an intensification of vision.
Ma is not something that is created by compositional elements; it is the
thing that takes place in the imagination of the human who experiences
these elements. Therefore ma can be defined as experiential place
understood with emphasis on interval.
*As Defined by Wikipedia
Thursday, March 15, 2012

3. 2012 One Hundred Black Men Inc., Annual Gala
Renaissance Fine Art
February 23, 2012 Dianne Smith, “Ma III” (Detail), 2012
Hilton New York 1335 Sixth Avenue
New York City, New York
Thursday, March 15, 2012

4. Thursday, March 15, 2012

5. Dianne Smith
Ma I
2012
oil, oil stick, acrylic on canvas,
30 x 12
Thursday, March 15, 2012

6. Dianne Smith
Ma II
2012
oil, oil stick, acrylic on canvas,
30 x 12
Thursday, March 15, 2012

7. Dianne Smith
Ma III
2012
oil, oil stick, acrylic on canvas,
30 x 12
Thursday, March 15, 2012

8. Dianne Smith
Ma IV
2012
oil, oil stick, acrylic on canvas,
30 x 12
Thursday, March 15, 2012

9. Dianne Smith
Ma V
2012
oil, oil stick, acrylic on canvas,
30 x 12
Thursday, March 15, 2012

10. Dianne Smith
Ma VI
2012
oil, oil stick, acrylic on canvas
30 x 12
Thursday, March 15, 2012