Paper bag

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on May 25, 2013 at 1:38pm

Curator’s Comments:

 

Paper Bag is a laudable piece- making the viewers recognize beauty in the most humble, ubiquitous object.  I enjoy the attention to local color and broken edged shadows, and then the subtle departure from a traditional ground. The fading of cooler slate blue to a deeper cerulean pigment provides an exquisite surround for the warmth of the brown bag.  The delicate cool reflections are evident in the bottom section, and help connect their spheres of space without necessarily affixing the form.  The result is the subject floating in a reverential manner.  I also like that the blue shifts to a warmer tonality at the point of the bags crease, emphasizing and animating the simple folding gesture.  Red Teapot has a similar elevation of the ordinary in a quiet, unassuming way.  I like that both of these pieces offer a generous amount of primarily empty negative space.  The stillness achieved nicely balances the strength and remarkable vigor of the forms. I particularly like the punch of blue-violet in the triangular cast shadow of the teapot’s spout.  More anchored that the previous painting, the softened transition from the solidly ochre ground to a more neutral violet tinted wall enjoys an atmospheric depth. While the result ostensibly provides the representational illusion of space, it further accentuates shape to a heightened aesthetic.