Six Ways of Worldmaking

Six Ways of Worldmaking The Mythopians Artist Group

Septemb er 8 – O ctob er 23 , 2 0 0 4

“Worldmaking as we know it always starts from worlds already on hand; the making is a remaking. ...(It) begins with one version and ends with another.”

—Nelson Goodman (1906-1998), American Philosopher

Six Ways of Worldmaking

Cobbled together from bits and pieces

Storytelling is integral to worldmaking.

The Mythopians are accomplished

“Six Ways of Worldmaking,” the

borrowed from the worlds of others,

It is the center from which we build.

artists and storytellers who move

Mythopians current exhibition at the

the worlds we remake as our own

It is also essential to the unique work

easily between ancient mythologies,

H.F. Johnson Art Gallery, Carthage

come from those old and new, distant

created by The Mythopians Artist

daily newspaper headlines and

College, Kenosha, takes its title from

and near, imperfect and ideal. We

Group, a coalition of six stylistically

fanciful invention. The worlds they

Nelson Goodman’s influential book,

embellish our versions freely and

distinct artists - Nancy Jean Carrigan,

create are beautiful, complex and

“Ways of Worldmaking”(1978). It

edit them judiciously. In doing so,

Robert Kameczura, Diane Levesque,

diverse. In them, we are as likely

is an engaging mix of varied and

each one becomes a rich, densely

James McNeill Mesple’, Christine

to encounter Eros dreaming of a

sometimes contradictory styles.

woven fabric of symbols with multiple

O’Connor and Steve Sherrell - who

love triangle, Penelope weaving her

Despite the affinities that have brought

intertwined meanings from which

exhibit their work collectively “out of a

tapestry, or satyrs playing their pipes,

these six artists together, they remain

we fashion stories that may impart

mutual love of figurative and narrative

as we are likely to meet Jack Kerouac

caretakers of their own dissimilar, yet

a moral, recount a history, or simply

art and a fondness for the Romantic

sipping a drink, Sigmund Freud sitting

intermingled worlds.

entertain.

tradition.”

in a swamp, or Victorian ladies in

distress. Theirs are extraordinary worlds where the logic of time, place, subject and action does not hold - worlds that have been remade wondrous and sublime.

NANCY JEAN CARRIGAN A playful and inventive line, fantastical shapes and deep vivid colors obtained by painting on sheets of layered acrylic film are the hallmarks of Nancy Jean Carrigan’s art. Her images, with their graceful sweeping curves, intricate spatial fills and other complex and delicate patterns, possess a bold graphic look.

Carrigan’s painting, “Il Cigno e

Not so in “The Burden of the

La Sirena” (2003), depicts an intimate

Phoenix (9/11)” (2002), for which

embrace between a mermaid and a

the artist has chosen the legend of the

swan. In it, the same sensual curve

fabulous giant bird who is reborn from

used to delineate the contour of the

its own ashes, as her response to the

mermaid’s golden hair is repeated in the

destruction of the World Trade Center.

mermaid’s curled tail and arm, as well

Carrigan has given the Phoenix a

as in the neck of the swan, (which joins

stylish female face with almond-

the mermaid’s arm to complete a heart-

shaped eyes that cry blood-red tears,

like shape). Spiral forms comprising the

whose shape and color are restated

mermaid’s breast, her scales and the

in flames issuing from the Twin Towers

picture’s roiling nebulous background

tucked beneath the Phoenix’ brilliant

reinforce the picture’s curve motif.

mermaid, however, this explanation

red wings, wings which also enfold a

provides only vague associations.

child within its womb. Here there is no

any clues to assist in the interpretation

Carrigan, who enjoys the ambiguity

ambiguity as Carrigan deftly retools

of the image, the story of Zeus taking

of the image, invites the viewer to

the age-old myth of rebirth—of life

the form of a swan as Leda’s lover

fill in the blanks with any number of

from death—into a message of hope

comes to mind. Since Leda was not a

fascinating scenarios.

for today.

While Carrigan does not offer

ROBERT KAMECZURA There is an atmosphere of enchantment that permeates Robert Kameczura’s acrylic paintings, as if he opens windows into timeless worlds where the mundane assumes the aura of magic and theater. Like characters in a costume play, the men in his paintings have full beards and wear robes or tunics. The women are dressed in diaphanous gowns. His lighting, which exudes an otherworldly glow, is dramatic and stage-like, accentuated by a kind of broken color that is alternately warm and cool.

Some of the worlds Kameczura

face, as if confronting her “false” and

creates are complete inventions.

“true” selves. Another woman primps

Others, such as“Pluto and Persephone

in a mirror even though her face is

in the Underworld” (2004), with

partially veiled. There is a couple

its phosphorescent glimpse into the

wearing sunglasses embracing before

domain of the dead, are drawn from

a fire, a woman carrying a torch and

classical literature and myth. The

a painter working on a picture.

painting “What We Are, What We

Every figure in Kameczura’s

Think We Are, What Other People

painting has a role to play. There are

Think We Are” (2004) comes by its title

artists, actors, dancers and lovers,

through a simplification of a phrase by

diptych, edge to edge—foreground

each representing a variation/degree

Voltaire. It is an ambitious discourse on

to background, with images and

of seeing, or being seen. Every

how people see themselves and others

events, leaving no empty space,

object—every action has a meaning

and how they are seen and perceived

or any place in the painting where

that enhances the believability of his

by others in turn.

something is not happening. Featured

strange and beautiful worlds.

among the many vignettes he stages

As in much of his work, Kameczura packs this imaginative

is a woman holding a mask up to her

DIANE LEVESQUE A great deal of psychological complexity is packed into the shallow, rather claustrophobic spaces of Diane Levesque’s provocative acrylic portrait paintings. Her subjects, whether of friends or strangers, are characterized as much by her faithful likenesses, as they are by the surreal-like accumulations of objects she brings into their orbit - objects which retain the residue of memory and which hold the clues to her subject’s identity and place in time.

Levesque’s art is heady and

with playing spaces that wind around

evocative. It allows the artist to

the picture’s surface like Joyce’s stream-

transform Beat poet Jack Kerouac into

of-consciousness prose winds around

Oedipus of Thebes and herself into

the page of a book.

Oedipus’/Kerouac’s mother/wife in

In Levesque’s version the

“All Things Being Equal: Oedipus and

viewer encounters a profusion of

Jocasta” (2003), a cautionary tale of

images, including a doll in a jar,

incest. Her art is often inspired by a

a rooster pitcher filled with roses,

line of poetry or a phrase in a book,

a figure falling from a stone tower,

as is the painting “In the Country of

Greek sirens and a large button.

the Marvelous” (2003), whose title

Each encapsulates an emotion or

was gleaned from a book by Pierre

experience Joyce’s main character

Mabille. The canvas, which was

His Metaphysics” (2004), one in a

undergoes as he wanders through

begun the day after war with Iraq

series of portraits focusing on writers and

the city of Dublin. An extremely

began, is a poignant indictment of

painters whom she considers influential

articulate painter, Levesque imbues

religious extremism and the grasping

to her own work, Levesque ingeniously

the seeming chaos and irrationality

for political prizes.

recasts Joyce’s retelling of Homer’s epic

of Joyce’s art with her own arresting

poem “The Odyssey” into a board game

form and artistry.

In “James Joyce: He Domesticated

JAMES McNEILL MESPLE’ It is not hard to imagine the paintings of James McNeill Mesple’ adorning the walls of a first century Roman villa, even with their humorous quirks and allusions to contemporary culture. The figures he paints are almost exclusively those of Greek or Roman mythology and their names, if not their stories, are, for the most part, familiar to most everyone.

But Mesple’s paintings, executed

magic to enter into the everyday.

in egg tempera and oil glazes made

Most of Mesple’s works are

from pigments he prepares himself

faithful, if somewhat tweaked versions

according to formulas rooted in the

of legend and myth, like that of

Middle Ages, are always a surprise.

Arachne who bests Athena in a

Marvelously inventive and seamless in

weaving contest and is changed into a

their melding of ancient and modern

spider. Yet some of his work is purely

imagery, the genuineness of the

lyrical, as is the hauntingly beautiful

worlds he creates is never in doubt.

“Rain Goddess” (2004). Here the

The disparate images in “Dune

ethereal face of a woman appears

Music” (2004), for instance, should

in gray storm clouds, the strands

not make sense, but in Mesple’s world

of her hair mingling with streaks of

they do. In it a pair of reed flutes is

rain falling on an iris flower that has

played by the slender green fingers

Indiana Dunes, Chicago’s skyline and a

blossomed in a rainbow of colors.

of an unseen musician, two classical

wooden ship sailing on Lake Michigan.

Mesple’s painting has the delicacy of

heads litter the ground and a couple of

It is a curious and improbable

a Renaissance botanical rendering

exotically dressed figures play alongside

idyll from Mesple’s unconventional

infused with poetry. His art is nothing

a pond. In the background are the

imagination that permits myth and

short of magical.

CHRISTINE O’CONNOR Christine O’Connor paints portraits of famous people from history and literature, like the astronomer Galileo Galilei and the missionaries Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa.

She presents her portraits within the context of stories that illuminate the relationships between her subjects.

Friendship and professional

a Venice canal shimmers. It is a quite,

rivalry, for instance, are the

penetrating picture whose bittersweet

topics in O’Connor’s portrayal of

air is heavy with memory and loss.

psychoanalysts Freud, Jung and Adler,

The past often blurs with reverie

whom she situates in a fecund swamp.

in O’Connor’s work and the images

Here Jung stands apart from the

in her paintings sometimes turn out

group, while Freud sits next to Adler,

Diptych, duality: woman/man” (2001)

quite differently from those that initially

a rifle resting across his lap aimed at

is a particularly exquisite work. In it

sparked her imagination. More

his companion’s book on aggression.

O’Connor tells the story of the great

important to O’Connor is that some

Through setting and gesture, the

adventurer and lover, Casanova and

type of experience and understanding

pointed painting speaks volumes

Henriette, the young French runaway

has taken place during the making

about the trio’s tangled relationship

with whom he had a brief love affair.

of the painting and the telling of the

and eventual estrangement.

Each of O’Connor’s works is

Here Henriette and Casanova face one another in profile from

intricately detailed and richly colored.

opposite ends of the canvas. She is

Her painstaking technique imparts

dressed for a party. Pictured above

an exceptional transparency and

her is a pair of costume masks; one,

luminosity that resemble the tempera

of which, has painted tears on its

paint and oil glaze finishes of certain

cheek. He is seen against a stone wall

Old Master paintings. “Venetian

with a barred window through which

story. It invariably does.

STEVE SHERRELL Working with the same assuredness in a variety of different media, from computer art to painting to collage, Steve Sherrell moves with equal ease between a diverse range of styles, from the abstract and figurative to the visionary, as in “A Gift from Time” (2003), (graphite, acrylic collage on three canvases). A large (9’ x 7’) work representing a celestial meeting between Beauty, (a woman clad in snake-skin), and Pegasus, the winged horse, it is elegant in both its cool blue-green color scheme and concise decorative design.

At the core of Sherrell’s work,

nervousness and spent sensitivity.

however, there is always a sense of

Running along the edges of the

the fantastic steeped in melancholy.

work are squares in which Sherrell

It is present in his wistful, at times

cubbyholes important dates, quotes

playfully perverse collages of Victorian

and events in the poet’s life. A bullet

women, and in fears of the Cold War

in each of the work’s four corners

that he revisits in “Rumors from the

represents shooting attempts on his

Rocket State” (nd), a work occasioned

life. Most curious is the extra pupil

by a Thomas Pynchon novel.

Sherrell has tucked inside each of

Such feelings are most prevalent,

Rimbaud’s “drunken” undulating

however, in “Rimbaud” (2004), a

eyelids, perhaps symbolic of the gift,

discerning homage to a quintessential

or curse of prescience. Sherrell’s work

Romantic artist. In this mixed-media

unkempt, as if he were a vagrant

is an incisive portrait of a man who

work (graphite, acrylic and collage on

posing for a police line up, rather

lived his life in the extreme and who

canvas), Sherrell envisions the French

than a prodigy who revolutionized

sacrificed himself readily to myth.

Symbolist poet, Arthur Rimbaud

poetry before the age of 17. His

(1854-91) as slightly rumpled and

scratchy penciled likeness conveys a

In “Ways of Worldmaking,” Nelson Goodman wrote “We start, on any occasion, with some old version or world that we have on hand and that we are stuck with until we have the determination and skill to remake it into a new one.” The six artists who comprise the Mythopians Artist Group have the determination and skill. Through their gifts of storytelling and art they create intriguing worlds from which each of us might borrow something for our own worldmaking.

Garrett Holg, a former Chicago Sun-Times art critic, contributes to ARTnews magazine

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