Opening Night: November 7, 7:00PM
On Display: Nov 7 - 29
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Wave, oil on canvas, 2012, 36" x 42"
Imagine music without a clear melody . . . In art, a close equivalent to this loss would be a painting without a clear sense of light and shadow. Just as the notes and rhythms of a melody lead us through a musical piece, it is the important role of light to move us through a painting. Perhaps this is why the work of award winning artist Bette Woodland is considered so reflective. Woodland’s exhibition Casting Shadows opens November 7th, 7:00PM at Gurevich Fine Art and is on display until November 29th.
At her core Woodland is concerned with the capturing of life’s moments. Each painting or drawing begins with her response to a particular landscape, figure or still life. She creates a rhythmic visual harmony of light and shadow. Together they create a sense of movement. Both familiar and timeless, Woodland’s art is not descriptive in the photo-realist sense. It evolves intuitively, guided by a conversation with a certain quality of light. No matter the subject, Woodland uses light and shade to make its identity clear.
Each painting presented is built up with layers of paint, each layer applied when the surface is dry. This process often finds Woodland developing many different pieces at once. By applying areas of paint with a painting knife she is able to “float” one colour over another without blending them together. A similar method is experience through her monotypes using brayers, one colour of ink is applied over another without losing either. The values, in contrast with one another, create a dynamic relationship.
"My work is engaged with the transformative power of light,” explains Woodland. “It intensifies experience and lifts the ordinary towards the transcendent. My practice as an artist has always been concerned with revealing that experience through paint." Woodland reflects a strong, self-conscious juxtaposition of light and shade, which results in a stunning visual effect in a work of art.
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Grey Sky, oil on canvas, 36" x 42"
