Nancy Sansom Reynolds “un furl” March 22- May 10, 2014 Bringing the new sculpture by Nancy Sansom Reynolds here to Washington to show at Addison/Ripley gives us particular pleasure. This is the fourth exhibition of the artist’s work in the gallery and her most ambitious and sophisticated to date. Begun as sketches done in 2006 in Wheaton Regional Park, “un furl”, was completed in the artist’s studio in Arizona just this year. It focus on the energy and movement of leaf growth, hence its title. Continuing work in her signature medium, carved and shaped plywood, Ms. Reynolds confounds the viewer’s expectations of the medium, working the material to create delicate shapes hung on the wall or balanced on pedestals. While the shapes evoke living plants, the colors, soft pastels and black, orange and white stand in marked contrast to our expectations bringing to mind recent work by Ai Wei Wei or Jeff Koons in stainless steel and stone. She manages a lightness with the difficult medium while maintaining a grounded energy. The contrast of living and eternal is achieved in these complex objects. So light are they that at times the structure of the sculptures seems to vanish only to reappear further along their frames. This work, in particular, pushes the limits of the medium. The artist has referred to Sufi dancers as one of the inspirations for her work. One can easily see in the twists and turns of these forms something like those swirling figures with the sharply defined edges of their skirts and their sustained motion. Their Sama or active meditation is in keeping with the artist’s own aesthetic. These thought poems in plywood are, as the artist suggests, “…a celebration of life and energy, captured through the fluid gesture of line and form.” Nancy Sansom Reynold’s work has been widely exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. Among many other places, her public commissions can be seen in Paris, Hong Kong, Barcelona and Australia. Work has been selected for United States Embassies in several countries including Nepal and Ethiopia. As well as being an artist, Ms. Reynolds has been for many years a teacher. She maintains a studio in Arizona and has been the subject of many articles about her and her work. For more information about the artist and her work, images from the exhibition or to schedule an appointment to view the work, please call Ms. Romy Silverstein at 202-338-5180. The gallery is located at 1670 Wisconsin Avenue in Upper Georgetown at the intersection of Reservoir Road
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 14:36:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015