Oil and Cold Wax on Cradle Board
The first time I exhibited my Portals and Passageways series, was in February 2020, a month before we entered the age of COVID and lockdowns. This particular body of work spun out of a year-long course, Building a Body of Work, taught by my friend and mentor Gillian Lee Smith. We were tasked with developing a theme around which to create a body of work.
The portals theme started when a family member was diagnosed with cognitive memory loss. It prompted me to think about memory. How we hold onto our memories, why we lose our memories and, more personally, would I face the same fate.
I soon found myself in a portal of my own making the more I thought about this theme. What is a portal? How do I depict a portal?
It was on a visit to Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico when this theme coalesced. Seeing the Ancestral Pueblo dwellings in the rock cliffs, the doorways, ladders and openings, I knew I’d found a direction.
Using the memory of place and the feelings it inspired, I worked with oil and cold wax medium to create layer upon layer, developing a history through my painting process. I add and subtract elements; reveal and lose layers. I use rhythm, repetition and pattern.
The chaos created in my process settles into an atmospheric final piece. As I paint, each layer becomes a meditative and intuitive process. These multi-layered paintings beckon the viewer to stay a while.