Kristen T Woodward - Artists2artists Resident Curator Curator’s Comments: I distinguish a highly personalized, strong and muscular painting style along with communicative broken color in these paintings. I’m especially intrigued by your brief comments about Woman in Flooded Room, as well as the emotive power it employs in its spatial ambiguity. (The twisted configuration of the body and patches of brown along with cool blue reminds me of classic Expressionist works, like Kokoschka’s Bride of the Wind.) While the central figure seems drawn down by gravitational weight, she also undulates in a distorted but rhythmic manner that seems apart from exterior constrictions. The turbulent contrast of the frothy white and deep blue rushing water attempts to consume her, but the bulk of her torso and well-developed thighs push up from their pull. The inclusion of the window, as you note, suggests a psychological irony. It necessarily identifies a certain containment or unyielding structure in its rectangular paned frame, but also denotes an opening or release from the internal flood. Of course escape is only possible if the flood is emanating from the interior. I also really like the piece simply entitled Sheep. While size isn’t indicated, I imagine it as a smaller work, perhaps because of the less complex and conflicted relationship between the figure and its surroundings. The choppy brushstrokes appear vigorous and yet soft as they model the animals coat and bed of hay. The elongated strokes in the foreground provide some atmospheric perspective, but my interest is held in the various patches of cool blue and black coalescing the figure and ground.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:34:59 +0000
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