Wetlands

Comment

Comment by Eileen Kennedy on January 3, 2014 at 9:19pm

Thanks so much for the feedback--it means a lot to me. ek

Comment by Resident Curator on January 3, 2014 at 6:57pm

Curator’s Comment:  

 

These silverpoint drawings are revealed as ethereal ghosts next to their full color painted versions, but for what Wetlands gains in full color tempera, it potentially sacrifices in some of its subtle delicacy. The general silver gray tonality imbues the scene with a slightly nostalgic sensibility, as if looking back at a Romantic or idyllic period.  I also sense the unfolding of an aphoristic parable or narrative lesson with moral intent; the children in their carefree lazing gestures are at the edge of the blanket; as they are at the edge of the adult woman’s sphere, with book knowledge and an aged oak.  The figures all seem to be of the same space and in harmony with their natural surrounds, as similar shapes are echoed in their clothes and braided hair.  Looking back to the color version, I’m stuck by the manner in which the psychology of the picture shifts with the more definitive value contrast.  The two girls in the field appear slightly older, and the expression of the woman on the blanket is more strained or anxious.  She appears to view the girls with some concern, perhaps bolstered by the darkness of the large, stabilizing oak.  I am also drawn to the multi-panel piece entitled Wednesday, which cleverly encloses its own ghost image within the triadic constructs of the picture plane. I like the sequential movement of the portraits, and the detail of the thorned vine selecting the center image for bestowment of its single white bloom.