Beyond Appearances

B E YON D APPE AR ANC ES

BEYOND APPEARANCES

works on paper

2021

Christel Dillbohner, Betty Merken and Jeanine Coupe Ryding Women have undoubtedly made their mark in the art world. Even though they were often overshadowed in the past, today women are aware of their immense contributions to art as we know it. Despite dealing with societal obstacles and a lack of broader support, they fought for what was important to them.

May 28 - July 24, 2021

Their goal is not to reach a percentage but to create a paradigm shift in how we view the ways that systemic biases and social structures have influenced what is defined as artistic excellence Collections grow through a combination of intention and happenstance—but the fact is that collecting women artists is increasing and that will have an impact on the arts, creating an overall and overdue balance.

Hortus conclusus: an enclosed garden shielded from the world of noise.

During the year of sheltering – in – place the herb garden in front of our house has turned into a small refuge. Under Californians desert skies I have tended to the varied plants for years. Due to the late spring rains the whole garden sprung into an unusual vibrancy of lavender blue, fiery orange, soft pinks and saturated shades of green. The Passion fruit vine had spread out over the rickety fence and bloomed the whole summer offering nutrition for bees, a playground for butterflies, a hiding place for finches and wrens and hummingbirds. It had turned the front yard into a sheltered, magical place. In this Hortus Conclusus I have spent hours to observe the natural world. Here I read and write and contemplate on creative ideas.

CHRISTEL DILLBOHNER

This most intimate landscape also provided me with the plants for a new series of cyanotypes called “Hortus Conclusus”. When you study the blueprints closely you’ll find the shadowy imprints of large leaved nasturtiums, the basket like euphorbia flowers, prickly thistles, the echiums flowery candles and the copper tips long spikes and ensiform leaves.

The cyanotype process is a photographic one that involves a light sensitive solution that I brush on sheets of heavy paper. Before the exposure to the ultraviolet beams of the sunlight I lay down a pre-selected group of plants and branches to capture their shadows. After exposure the paper has to be washed, dried and cured. Then I sift through the recorded image with pen and brush, and thus create divers horticultural prospects.

Christel Dillbohner Berkeley, CA March 2021

Hortus Conclusus # 1 mixed media on BFK paper 42” x 26” unframed 3200.00

Hortus Conclusus # 3 mixed media on BFK paper 42” x 26” unframed 3200.00

Night Flowering # 1

Night Flowering # 2

mixed media on BFK paper

mixed media on BFK paper

42” x 26” unframed

42” x 26” unframed

3000.00

3000.00

Field #2 2020

Field #2 2020

mixed media on BFK paper

mixed media on BFK paper

24.5” x 42” unframed

24.5” x 42” unframed

3000.00

3000.00

Underwater Garden # 3 2020 mixed media on BFK paper 21” x 36” unframed 3000.00

Frontiers of Solitude #2 2021

Frontiers of Solitude #4 2021

Frontiers of Solitude #10 2021

mixed media on BFK paper

mixed media on BFK paper

mixed media on BFK paper

11” x 10” unframed

11” x 10” unframed

11” x 10” unframed

700.00

700.00

700.00

Color and geometric abstraction have spoken to me as vital means of creative expression since my earliest work as an artist. Both color and geometric abstraction continually offer me new pathways in which to reinvigorate my visual language. As a painter and a printmaker my work develops along a continuum of color and materiality and I usually begin with color.

BET T Y MERKEN

The architecture of my paintings and prints often develops intuitively, led by relationships of one color to another and of one structure to another. I am forever fascinated by the power of color to evoke emotion and to encourage contemplation, allowing the viewer’s responses to become the subject of the work. In my daily studio practice I am challenged to create works which have a sense of inevitability about them and which reveal a sense of oneness with the viewer. Elements of both structure and fragility appear in my work~~ a balancing act which I hope speaks to our own very human condition and characteristics.

Betty Merken Seattle, WA October 2020

Intervals 04-13-06 oil monotype on BFK paper 32” x 48” unframed 3000.00

Intervals VI 06-13-12 oil monotype on BFK paper

Intervals VI 01-14-04

22” x 30” unframed

oil monotype on BFK paper

2000.00

22” x 30” unframed 2000.00

Intervals VI 10-13-16

Intervals VI 01-14-23

oil monotype on BFK paper

oil monotype on BFK paper

22” x 30” unframed

22” x 30” unframed

2000.00

2000.00

Cantilevered / Amethyst hand torn/ deckled printed

Ochre Red

13” x 7” x 6”

oil monotype on BFK paper

3000.00

22” x 30” unframed 2000.00

Intervals XXVI oil monotype on BFK paper 22” x 30” unframed 2000.00

Cantilevered / Ruby hand torn/ deckled printed 13” x 7” x 6” 3000.00

Intervals XXVI oil monotype on BFK paper 32” x 48” unframed 3000.00

It is during carving my woodblocks that the image transforms itself from a flat line drawing to a larger, stronger form. The wood surface influences how it is carved, with shorter cuts in a harder surface, to longer, relaxed cuts in a softer, more yielding surface.

J E ANINE CO U PE RYD IN G

The shapes, are not purely abstract forms. They are the distillation of experiences, thoughts and relationships I have with people, my studio and with the environment. They are often observations and hopeful thoughts expressed In woodcut print form.

I don’t make prints because they can be reproduced or editioned. I feel I work best when I am collaborating with the materials I am using. I have had a strong relationship with wood and tools since I was a child. My father sold building materials, so scraps of wood and tools were part of my tool and toy box through my life. Now they are the way I make art.

Jeanine Coupe Ryding Evanston, IL March, 2021

Blue Over 1/1 2020

Fire Fly 1/1 2019

woodcut on stonehenge

woodcut on stonehenge

42” x 30” unframed

42” x 30” unframed

3000.00

3000.00

Orange with Fern 2/2 2017

Orange Swing 1/1 2021

woodcut on hanji paper

woodcut on stonehenge

57” x 27” unframed

57” x 27” unframed

4000.00

3000.00

Cut Away 2/2 2020

Resonance 2/2 2021

woodcut on stonehenge

woodcut on okawara

42” x 30” unframed

58” x 28” unframed

3000.00

4000.00

Waterbound 2/2 2021 woodcut on stonehenge 42” x 30” unframed 3000.00

Woven Stitched 2/2 2021 woodcut on stonehenge 42” x 30” unframed 3000.00

Red Eclipse 2/2 20215 woodcut on okawara 28” x 71” unframed 4500.00

Middle Earth 1/1 2019 woodcut on okawara 71” x 28” unframed 4500.00

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BEYOND APPEARANCES

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