ELLIPSE ARTS CENTER: Pondering those who ponder

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Pondering those who ponder

Amidst the diversity of art currently on display at the All Arlington Salon, each work engages the viewer. Whether a serene landscape or a vivid abstraction, the works can invigorate the senses, evoke memories, or reveal a story.

(left)

Frederick Markham

Rose Garden, 2007; Oil on canvas

(right)

Alice Whealin

Pearly Water’d, 2006; Oil on canvas

A number of works in the exhibit add a twist to the contemplative nature of viewing art: they feature subjects who are lost in their thoughts. What do we think as we gaze at someone with a discernable personality, with an independent psyche? Naturally, we want to know what they are thinking and we desire to know more about the situation. Artists in the Salon bravely took on this difficult theme, sometimes providing clues and other times complicating straight-forward conclusions.

Lucia Heard not only includes a pondering figure in her painting, Elizabeth in Iceland, but she also tinges the background with a degree of mystery. Here, a graceful, white-haired woman stands as if uncertain of her surroundings.

Lucia Heard
Elizabeth in Iceland, 2007; Oil, 22” x 28”

In her artist statement, Heard remarks that she concentrates on color arrangements. The icy blue sky and weathered grey and green houses crisply contrast the bright red roofs and jacket of the woman. The lively colors and wholesome picket fence suggest that this should be an idyllic setting, but the woman’s defensive stance suggests that she has either been anxiously pacing or waiting. Heard skillfully incorporates shadows into the composition, recalling Edward Hopper’s equally enigmatic plays with light and darkness. For instance, the woman casts an ominously dark shadow onto the pastel fence. Unlike Hopper’s blank but detailed faces, Heard has obscured the woman’s face with hurried strokes of paint. The viewer is not meant to easily decipher her thoughts.

Ellen Price Egan
Lost, 2001; C print, 20” x 30”

Where Heard creates a psychological feeling of anxiety by portraying a lone woman, Ellen Price Egan relies on a crowd. Her photograph, Lost, consists of overlapping images of the city. Egan has carefully layered bright colors and a multitude of people into a composition that is beautifully frenzied. Yet, as the title indicates, these attributes are not necessarily positive. Either Egan has lost her way after a creative photographic journey in the city or her title refers to the indifferent expressions of the passersby. Regardless, she has captured the core of social isolation: a mass of people lost in their own thoughts for better or worse.

Kent O’Connor
Dog Suit, 2008; Oil on canvas, 20” x 16”

Kent O’Connor’s Dog Suit establishes a more conversational relationship with the viewer. The male subject, with a slightly furrowed brow, angular facial features, and a five-o-clock shadow meets the gaze of the viewer. If not for the spotted sweatshirt and floppy ears, one might perceive the figure to be a boxer hoping to intimidate his next opponent. Indeed, the dog suit adds a layer of meaning to his thought-process: perhaps he is more embarrassed than angry, though the balance is tenuous. Because of this tension, a viewer can sympathetically return his gaze, assured that someone else will pay the consequences for dressing him in a dog suit.

Bryanne Dade
Adam, 2006; Oil, 24” x 30”

Conversely, peering at someone who is asleep has long intrigued the voyeur in us all. Brianne Dade has painted Adam reclining on a sofa with his eyes shut, eschewing the presence of the viewer. Comparable to Heard’s painting, the well-executed contrast in colors creates a feeling of uneasiness as the maroon pillow exacerbates the eerie yellows of Adam’s face. Dade emphasizes Adam’s face and upper torso by cropping out the rest of his body. Forced into an intimate space with such a dynamically portrayed subject, one cannot help wondering what he might be dreaming. To be sure, Dade could have merely painted Adam while he had the flu. However, the intense colors and Adam’s vulnerable position suggest that Adam is experiencing a disturbing slumber. Dade has cleverly established an overall feeling of agitation.

Emma Sky Wolf
The Dreaming Seat, 2008; Ink, acrylic and digital media, 16” x 20”

For Emma Sky Wolf, a sleeping figure can appear peaceful. In The Dreaming Seat, soothing tones of grey, teal and blue suggest harmony. Furthermore, the young girl smiles in her sleep, making clear that her dreams are pleasant. Her exact location is uncertain, possibly in her own backyard or on a park bench. The painting does not need to include such details; rather, a seemingly limitless blue sky cushions the girl and encourages her daydreams.

What sense can be made of pondering others as they ponder? As we attempt to interpret the tacit elements of a painting, we begin to connect to them in unexpected ways. The All Arlington Salon includes many more paintings that incite open-ended questions. Despite the impressive number of works and their range in subject matter, size and medium, visitors can search for thematic threads that run throughout the gallery and unite the artists of Arlington.

¶ 6:23 PM

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