PRIZEWINNERS
SHOW
Creative Arts Workshop features the new
work of the winners of the 2008 national exhibition Painting
as Presence,
juried by William Bailey, Kingman Brewster Professor of Art
Emeritus, Yale University. Recent work by Helen
Byler (West
Haven, CT) and Carrie Mae Smith (West Tisbury,
MA) will be exhibited in the CAW Hilles Gallery from January
16 to February 6 with an opening reception on Friday, January
16 from 5 to 7 pm. An I Break for Art! talk with
the artists will be held on Wednesday, January 28 at 12:30 pm. The
public is invited to attend.
This prizewinners exhibition, Helen Byler and Carrie Mae
Smith, will exemplify the emphasis of Painting as Presence,
which sought “to bring life and presence from inert materials,” according
to Mr. Bailey. Mr. Bailey selected Byler and Smith from
the seventy-nine artists that were included in Painting as
Presence in 2008, out of the nearly four hundred artists
from across the country that submitted entries to the show.
FROM THE ARTISTS
HELEN BYLER
“A good painter must depict two principle things to paint:
namely, man and the intention of his mind” - Da Vinci
How does the commonplace become extraordinary, the subtle become
sublime?
Subject is inseparable from object
transcending the material world while at the same time maintaining
it, as one cannot separate the body from the mind. Through the transformation of my
work I express ideas about beauty and intimacy, love and painting: the
nameless color of a shadow, a piece of clothing twisting and
turning along the lines of the figure, forms within and around
the features of a face, blurry edges and exaggerated color of
a photographic print, a likeness, myself in relation to the mirror
and the camera, a screen door belonging to the house where my
mother raised her children, a field of grass, the perspective
of a six year old child photographing her father for the first
time, a gesture of playful vanity, variations of the color black,
colored marks of paint and the spatial illusion they imply, light
on the forehead of my boyfriend thinking, a moment in the life
of a happy dog. I depict my subject evoking private thoughts,
desires, passions, and sensuality. For me, portraits are more
than capturing a likeness of someone. I think of them as
figure paintings of the head.
The discovery of the figure for both
geometry and metaphor is a natural progression from one work to
the next. Thanks to the camera and many years of study from life,
I can explore my subject without stiff poses. The photographs become
captured memories of fleeting moments in my daily life. They are not set up but spontaneous
and objects unto themselves. As I work directly from these
souvenirs I articulate relationships between subject and object
often working with scale changes and actual size, or repetition
of imagery in order to revisit the joy of making a particular painting. I
consider realism, the Renaissance painters, conceptualism and expressionism
to be the major influences in my attitude towards painting. My
work is a conversation that I’m having with my subject, the
viewer and historical and contemporary art references. In
my work there is often potential for movement, change and humor.
CARRIE MAE SMITH
Intention. Line and color must be struck with intention. Not
necessarily knowing the outcome, but working with deliberate
intention towards a sense of something, a feeling, an idea, a
sense of purpose.
With deliberation I work to provoke
thought, with out commanding a singular response. Painting everyday objects, things
that we live with and don't give much thought to. I invite
the viewer to rest on, or meditate on the simplicity of the present,
like a repose, a moment to be quiet and find contentment. Presenting
an opportunity to calm the mind from its constant flow of thoughts.
Focusing on form and light, my paintings tend to be more suggestive
than definitive. I am interested in investigating space through
perspective and the architecture of line. I work to give the
paintings a life of their own, to be convincing and to have a
sense of presence.
PAST PRIZEWINNERS SHOWS
2008:
Nicholas Kripal, Judit Varga, and Nicholas Wood, Prizewinners
of the 2007 National Exhibition Ceramic Abstraction: Exploration
and Evidence,
with juror Paula Winokur
|
