Look into my Crystal...

Comment

Comment by Connie Desaulniers on March 21, 2014 at 8:58pm

Thanks, Kristen.  I hope you're enjoying being resident curator!  Your comments are very helpful to me, and I am sure to others as well.

Comment by Resident Curator on March 21, 2014 at 6:40pm

I don't know why I didn't see the hands at first- of course now that you point them out, it's  obvious.

It's really a wonderfully decadent, playful piece.

Comment by Connie Desaulniers on March 21, 2014 at 12:51pm

Thanks for your thoughtful comments - I appreciate the feedback.  You're right, "Crystal Ball" is not as playful as "Buns", perhaps reflecting a more contemplative side at the time (however, 13 year old boys find it fascinating).  The pattern on the "Buns" dress is actually hands reaching up, as if to get the desserts.  They are done with translucent paints, and embellished with gold.   Thanks again for the feedback!

Comment by Resident Curator on March 21, 2014 at 12:24pm

Curator’s Comments:

 

The unique mixed media dimensional manipulation in this piece undoubtedly is difficult to grasp on screen, but I’m attracted to the shaped support and unconventional altar like containment of the torso. While the small ornamental heart and text within the crystal ball add whimsical elements, the piece has a different mood than your other pieces.  Almost austere by comparison to your bird and figurative / animal paintings, there’s intense focus on the gesture of offering. The hand appears to float between the flat pictures surface and the viewer, as a designated intermediary. The words within the crystal ball don’t actually offer any mystical insight or “tell”.  It’s almost as though they serve to poke fun at the notion of seeking such wisdom.  Do These Raisins Make My Buns Look Big? is an easier appeal to the viewer.  While the face is also obscured in this figure, like the cropping in the first work, it offers a playful if not voyeuristic vantage point.  The extension of the colorful assemblage above the square canvas adds to the joyous humor of the subject.  It’s as if the desserts are bubbling up out of the hat, gaining from their own momentum.  I’m not quite sure what’s happening in the decorative textile pattern of the woman’s shirt.  With the lavish pastry motif worked into every aspect of her being, I was anticipating another sweet reference.  But regardless of the pattern’s origin, it serves to formally balance the weighted detail of the teetering cakes and pies.