SALLY BOWRING
Statement
When artists make a change in their work it can feel like a break up. Sentimentality, routine and vulnerability tend to mingle with the joy and excitement of the journey ahead. Sometimes the break up is quick and painful, other times it is a slow burn... a knowing that finally accumulates until it is time to transition. Whether you slowly plot your exit or take a leap of faith, with change, comes the exhilaration of renewal.
The work included in this catalog is exhilarating in its simplicity. It is an example of an artist that has steadfastly dedicated her life to painting. Sally Bowring has never wavered in her close examination of the world she inhabits. Her work embodies a record of her daily walks, the sunlight through a window as it changes with the varying seasons, an abstraction of patchwork. She has nothing but curiosity for her environment and the patterns it provides, but in this new body of work there is something special to behold.
The paintings in this new series introduce into liminal spaces a collection still life objects. Presumably hollow vessels which refuse to justify what they are made for. The vases and pots rarely hold the flowers and plants we would expect in standard still lives, and when they do, there is sparce overreaching singular arms of greenery. They simultaneously appear to be silhouettes and dimensional, transparent and opaque, they crowd together or they stand out proudly and separately. They become figure, ground then figure again. There is sophisticated play in placement the vessels, (another way Bowring breaks with expectation) they stack centralized or crowd together off center. Their colors are complex blends of pastels with shocks of rich red hues. Edges match other edges in defiance of the rules of composition leading to an uneasy feeling that begs the viewer to look deeper. It takes more than a few views to understand that these still lives, in their intentional awkwardness are very human, a humanity in which we see softness and confident defiance.
Of course, one cannot overlook the reference to woman as a vessel, a biblical reference to the feminine which holds the harshness and beauty of this world. Bowring creates windows into spaces where these references are rendered useless, unable or unwilling to fulfill their expected role. Both a nod to and a subversion of domesticity. The vessels gather in the picture frame like family snapshots or random moments at a party. A friend recently stated to me that women (especially women artists) are not vessels, they are conduits, and I believe Bowring’s work to be a conduit to unseat our expectations… not just of a powerhouse artist, but of how even things like still lives can surprise us with their renewal.
— Heide Trepanier, 2024
DRAWING 1
18 x 12 inches
30 x 30 inches
DRAWING 2
18 x 11.5 inches
30 x 30 inches
DRAWING
12 x 12 inches
STILL–GRAY
Acrylic on panel
30 x 30 inches
DRAWING 4
18 x 12 inches
BREAKFAST
Acrylic on panel
46 x 46 inches
DRAWING 5
12 x 12 inches
DRAWING
18 x 12 inches
PINK FLOWERS
Acrylic on panel
46 x 46 inches
DRAWING
18 x 12 inches
ASPARAGUS
48 x 48 inches
DRAWING
18 x 12 inches
40 x 40 inches
DRAWING 9
18 x 12 inches
30 x 30 inches
DRAWING 10
12 x 12 inches
30 x 30 inches
DRAWING 11 Notebook
30 x 30 inches
DRAWING 12 Notebook
PARENTHESIS
Acrylic on panel
30 x 30 inches
IS IT EASTER YET
Acrylic on panel
30 x 30 inches
QUIET ORDER
Acrylic on panel
30 x 30 inches
SHORT STORY
30 x 30 inches
Acrylic on panel
46 x 46 inches
P’S COLLECTION
Acrylic on panel
60 x 36 inches
