Human Condition August 29 - September 27, 2008
Opening Reception Friday August 29th 7 PM- 10 PM
Rebecca Skelton
I believe that the making of art and viewing of art are transformative experiences.
It is easy to express anger, horror and pain. The challenge is to reach beyond the present. I would like the viewing of my work to be a healing force and to evoke an emotional release. Although most of my work contains an undercurrent of longing and melancholy, I feel the characters are surviving to brave another day. It is my wish that the intrinsic sadness is overshadowed by the beauty of the forms and tones.
I have always been interested in drawing people. For most of my adult life, I have drawn regularly from a model. Most of that time, the drawings were just to keep my eye sharp and fingers nimble. I rarely use the studies for reference; the process of seeing and recording burns the information into my memory so that when I paint or sculpt, I work from memory. However, in the past few years, I have begun to see the drawings as images that I would like to share.
My drawings use the human figure as the imagery. I try to honestly portray the human condition through the human form. Most of them are drawn directly from the model while others are re-worked from memory. The medium varies depending on the particular emotion I am trying to convey.
Many of them are on handmade paper recycled from old drawings (combined with shredded mementos and souvenirs.) In these drawings, it is my intention to capture the experience and energy from the past drawings and channel them into the new drawings. These second generation pieces do seem to have a feeling of depth and history. Some drawings are made on a heavy paper that allows me to carve nervous working lines into the body of the paper and redraw a more composed or resolute image on the surface. Other drawings become layered by my drawing and erasing several times until the new image wins over the earlier ones. All of them suggest a sense of mystery, elapsed time, and motion. These psychological elements convey recovery, perseverance, and transformation.
