Metaphor

Linda Pochesci "Out the Front Door", Jamie Greenfield "Moth Music", Valery Sutherland "Where the Buttercups Grew"

Metaphor, featuring the artworks of Susanna Baker, Jamie Greenfield, Linda Pochesci, Merrill Steiger, and Valery Sutherland opened this past weekend at the Pierro Gallery in South Orange.  The reception for the artists is scheduled for this Sunday, September 19th, from 1 – 4 PM and will include an informal artist talk starting at 1 PM.

Susanna Baker's "Star Cluster"(wax, monotype on wood)

As the curator, I have to point out that the artwork for this show was not chosen around the title Metaphor: rather, I went through the files and pulled out work that interested me, intuitively organizing the artists’ portfolios into stacks that I felt worked as a grouping.   (The artists for this exhibit were curated from the artist files of the Pierro Gallery - to which I actively encourage all artists to submit materials; the guidelines are here).

During the process of organizing, I realized that there is a connection between the works of this group of artists: in one manner or another, they all deal directly with metaphor.  One could argue that most art deals with metaphor on some level (even for non-representational artists, such as abstract expressionists, the painting in itself becomes the metaphor for the action of painting).  However, these artists have a more straightforward use of metaphor in their work.  More subtle than analogies, these are visual metaphors that play out in correlations between juxtaposed imagery or contrast space, scale and color, so the artists are creating their own visual symbolism, evoking emotion, or suggesting narrative.

 

Merrill Steiger, "Arachnophopia", acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches

In addition to metaphor, nature is also notably featured within the works of these artists - references to weather, daylight, insects, geological formations, natural textures and patterns, the macrocosm as well as the microcosm:  elements that come together, conveying suggestions to the passage of time, hints towards the essence of spirituality, contemplation of environment, and allusions to the enigmatic personal experience of the artists themselves.

As with literary metaphors, there is an elusiveness that brings the viewer into the work to ask what is happening?, what does this mean?, and demanding the viewer to assume more responsibility for interpreting meaning, because these artists have not created clear-cut narratives and explicitly elucidated stories or concepts.  These artworks show an array of symbols and private iconography - the meanings for which the viewer is not necessarily privy - but intuitively, and with contemplation, the viewer can generate their own version of meaning through the visual imagery that each artist has presented.

Installation view of Valery Sutherland's "The Old Ones"; six sculptures, acrylic on layered plywood

Strange Tales From My Little Black Book #17

Pencil on Moleskine sketchbook paper, 8.25 x 10.5 inches:

Key

Macro fun with the point and shoot...

"[Photography] is the easiest medium in which to be competent. Anybody can be a marginally capable photographer, but it takes a lot of work to learn to become even a competent painter. Now, having said that, I think while photography is the easiest medium in which to be competent, it is probably the hardest one in which to develop an idiosyncratic personal vision. It’s the hardest medium in which to separate yourself from all those other people who are doing reasonably good stuff and to find a personal voice, your own vision, and to make something that is truly, memorably yours and not someone else’s. A recognized signature style of photography is an incredibly difficult thing to achieve."    ~ Chuck Close

My husband has stated that "there is a low threshold for entry into photography" for years (trust me, we have seen a lot of less-than-marginal photography, so this is not snarkiness as much as observation), so when I came across the Chuck Close quote above, I giggled because it is, essentially, the same idea wrapped within a more eloquent concept. 

I am a marginal photographer.  But, that is no great feat because I have had enough dark room experience, made more than my share of pinhole cameras and have probably taken about 800 rolls of 35 mm film (oh, it is true, and I still have the negatives in shoe boxes in my studio closet!).   At some point, after all of that, the process of making a decent picture sort of sinks in.  And, needless to say, the age of digital photography has lowered the threshold for entry into photography even more than the accessability of the Polaroid or 35mm ever did (take a gander through flickr - there are a lot of really good, interesting, and inventive photographs out there).  Now I even have the luxury of taking about 10 photos of something that I like and picking the decent photo out of the lot (and deleting the rest) which is far better than the old days of waiting for a roll of film to develop only to see that the one precious shot I was anticipating is out of focus or has the blurry dark line of the camera strap across the lens.   Okay, I do love the beautiful surface of an analog photograph, but the digital is just so darn handy.

And really, the art teacher in me thinks that it is quite a good thing that the ability to compose an image, capture and idea, or document a scene is so easily attainable for everyone.  Art is long, processes can be frustrating, and sometimes you just want to make something fast.

Truthfully, I do not have a passion for the photograph as a medium as much as I see it as a utilitarian way for gathering references for my drawings (which are often composed, or at least formatted in photoshop - the final composing takes place on a full size sheet of tracing paper).  But, I love, love, love taking photos of the little things in the world with the macro setting of my point and shoot.   There is something about getting eye-level to the ground or right up to a bug and putting the camera an inch away...finding and capturing the image of something so tiny and transient.  

So, my macro fun in the garden continues with mushrooms, butterflies, and that fabulous leafy green swiss chard...

 

 

 

I have another Moleskine finished and it will be posted at the end of the week, plus I will write about my official curatorial debut next week! 

Strange Tales From My Little Black Book #16

Sigh...back from vacation.... during which I had a lot of time to sketch while on the side of a mountain with my family, enjoying a lovely little creek with neither internet nor cell service (of course, one is never more than 20 minutes from a Starbucks, so I was not that isolated, but it is pleasant to be off the grid, so to speak).

A new sketchbook drawing -

Scissor, graphite on Moleskine sketchbook paper, 10.5 x 8.25 inches:

I have photos to post (a collection of micro mushrooms and a visual study of that complimentary color feast also known as swiss chard), and a rant about the true recipe for red velvet cake, but life draws me away (most pressing is that I have a few fish tanks to clean - after several weeks of neglect the fishies are looking a bit edgy).

Another Moleskine sketch soon...

Work in Progress

A quick lookie-loo at the newest drawing.  This is a detail showing the face section of the self-portrait (which is drawn slightly larger-than-life).   This is approximately a 9 x 8 inch section; the entire drawing is 40 x 20 inches in size.

Thanks to summer break, I have had to adjust my studio time, which means that I am drawing late at night when the kiddies are asleep (it is a limited drawing time, but I do it every day, of course!).  I have a feeling that this drawing will not be done until October (so far about 40 hours spent on the piece, and only about 1/6 of the paper has been touched).

"Art is long, and time is fleeting..."    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Speaking of artsy funeral marches to the grave, isn't Harold & Maude the most perfect blend of film and song?  I need to track down a DVD copy (my old copy is a VHS, that is assuming I actually could find it...)

Currently listening to:  Cat Steven's Greatest Hits