Shadow Myth: Io 2

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on December 5, 2021 at 6:37pm

Curator’s Comment:

 

Shadow Myth lo 2 appeared on the site today, and the gesture of the solitary figure looked familiar.  When I looked through your other pieces on the site, I remembered your highly recognizable graphite drawings of shadow dancers.  While the achromatic renderings provide beautifully smooth and graphic encounters with the figures against stark white grounds, this mixed media piece presents a slightly more complex understanding of the relationship between the figure and her shadow.  The deep blue encaustic pigment is situated as a surprising visceral form against the paler female body.  I find it difficult to make out the fused layers of space and color, as they meld into a unique surface that looks slightly metallic or leaden along the borders.  It’s as if the figure is pulling away from a separate darker form, that doesn’t hug her contours as tightly as the first drawn version.  This ambiguity in the silhouette imparts a sense that control over the shadow is tenuous, or that the echo of the body is actually a separate entity. The viewer can contemplate the fascinating psychological tension between them. I recognize all of these works were posted several years ago.  I would be curious to see how these series has evolved.