Visual Art Review: Three Vermont artists: Pastels, papier maché and prints
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An exhibition of work by three Vermont artists currently at the T.W. Wood Gallery continues to April 30. The show features pastels and paintings by Cynthia Griffith, sculptural masks by Ellis Jacobson, and prints by Phillip Robertson. A reception with the trio of artists will be held 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14.
“Their mediums are so different,” said T.W. Wood Gallery Director Ginny Callan. “I love the flow of the artwork in the gallery. You arrive and are surrounded by the beautiful colors of Cynthia’s pastels, then move down the hallway to Ellis’ three-dimensional sculptures and masks, then come to Phillip’s prints and his prints presented as scrolls.”
Griffith and Robertson have an eye to nature and landscape. In Jacobson’s masks, the face is the focus.
Forests, trees, landscapes and floral subjects are among Griffith’s selections. Griffith, of North Middlesex, works extensively in pastels and is currently serving as president of the Vermont Pastel Society. Several of her pieces are in the style of magical realism — scenes of the natural world that combine realism and an air of enchantment or mystery.
“I focus on realism because nature is so beautiful in itself,” said Griffith. “I hate to alter that drastically — but by amplifying color and form and composition, I bring out my expression.”
Griffith’s “Woodland Treasure” draws the viewer into a streamside forest. The serene blues and greens of the stream with rocks and reflection connect to the sky peeking through the leafy boughs. Light filters down amid the tree trunks to warm oranges and reds of the ground.
“Snowshoe Ramble” was inspired by Griffith’s winter jaunts. In her pastel, an exuberant shadow has a lilt in its step as it travels over the snow covered ground.
The faces of Jacobson’s expressive sculpted masks burst with personality. Jacobson, who lives in Montpelier, is a sculptor, theater artist, curator of contemporary art and art educator, and works magic with papier maché and celastic. His mask making began as theater art and his work has been widely featured in performances, including with the Metropolitan Opera, pageants at the ancient ruins of Monte Alban in Oaxaca, Mexico, and in a broad range of productions.
Jacobson’s masks in the T.W. Wood show include some designed for performances. Each mask is the product of a multi-step process. Jacobson first sculpts the face in clay, then casts it in plaster, then, through patchwork construction, creates the mask in the negative mold.
Jacobson’s “The Wolf” (celastic) and “Piggy” (papier maché) offer a charged juxtaposition as they hang side by side. With sharp features, narrow eyes, pointy ears and big razor-edged teeth, “The Wolf” licks his lip with the tip of his pink tongue. The drowsy-eyed “Piggy,” with soft curves and good-natured expression is unaware of her neighbor’s sinister demeanor.
In Jacobson’s monumental mask, “Final Gift,” there’s a warmth and timelessness in the deeply-lined face with its flowing gray hair. The sculpture deals gently and beautifully with an end of life theme.
Artist-printmaker Robertson lives in East Hardwick. Along with his creative work he also teaches at both Johnson State College and Community College of Vermont. Inspired by the natural landscape, Robertson uses imagination and memory to look beyond realism to make a statement about the pastoral landscape tradition in the 21st century.
“I fell in love with the landscape early on,” said Robertson, “and I have used landscape to express what we do to the landscape as a society.”
The T.W. Wood show includes prints inspired by places around New England — several around Hardwick, Green River, and sites in Maine among them.
In Robertson’s “Tritium Leaks,” the recognizable monolithic structure of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant stands in its landscape of river and mountains, thin clouds stretched across the sky. Three block prints of the image, in green, are presented together, the sheets stitched to connect them, scroll-like. The contrast of the natural landscape and power plant presented in this multiple format invites reflection.
Robertson’s “Spring Meditation” evokes its eponymous season. A slender tree, branches stretched upward, stands ready in the landscape. A few words in a haiku-like text accompany the five images, bringing the viewer into the moment.
Along with the “Three Vermont Artists” exhibition in the Contemporary Art Gallery, the T.W. Wood also has artwork from its permanent collections in exhibitions in the Thomas Waterman Wood Room and in the new Works Progress Administration (WPA) Room. This inaugural exhibit in the WPA Room features about two dozen 1930s paintings, sculptures and prints. “Skyscrapers” by modernist painter Joseph Stella and “The Idea” by Vermont artist Ronald Slayton, are among the artworks in the show.
The T.W. Wood is the official Vermont repository for federally owned artwork from the WPA, a Depression-era arts project documenting the nation. The Gallery also owns an extensive collection dating from that era. The gallery is planning an extensive exhibit drawn from these collections later this year.
T.W. Wood Gallery
The T.W. Wood Gallery presents “Three Vermont Artists Exhibit,” through April 30, at the Center for Arts and Learning (CAL), 46 Barre Street in Montpelier. Hours are: noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; admission is free; call 802-262-6035, or go online to http://twwoodgallery.org. A public reception with the artists will be held 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14.
Click here to view original web page at www.timesargus.com
March 31, 2016