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ARTIST'S STATEMENT
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At the beginning of my painting career, I used the form of a cedar tree, or objects that evolved from its shape, to anchor my work in the natural world. This gave me a baseline for exploring the connection between physical and spiritual sources of life. And of course the constant cycle of energy, the patterns of existence that are like the pulse of blood. A lot of my work has a sky/earth horizon, connecting the physical and spiritual, the rooted and the free. So, some of my paintings I characterize as "metaphorical landscapes."
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Natural objects become a symbol, not only of connection between earth, air and water, of conception, birth, growth and decay, but of the sacredness of the individual, the holiness of life, and the will to perfection. I use human figures in my work in an abstract, collective way. We, after all, are the arbiters and interpreters, winners and losers, in the worlds we create. Historical, mythical and religious tropes help define my meanings.
The symbols and metaphors I choose are often about generative power, sexuality, the mysteries of physical and spiritual realities. I expect them to hold meaning as icons, but also expect them to hold their own as beautiful objects. For more than a year I explored spheres, thinking of them as planets, moons. Then I read that the human egg is the only perfect spherical cell in the (human) body, a glowing, radiating organism. This concept gave resonance and depth to those paintings that I could not explain until then. Spheres grew out of another symbol in recent work, the aureole--a halo, glory--a way for me to define mystery, divinity, spirituality.
I have been painting for 20 years, after a lifetime of channeling creativity elsewhere. Oh, I studied art as a college girl, practiced feebly in my 20s and 30s, put energy into graphic design in my 40s, drew for dollars now and then. But when I wrenched art out of the wreckage in 1988, I saw it brand new as I picked up oilbars and tacked a canvas on the pristine wall of a Baltimore apartment. My first painting, "Romancing the Tree," is in the "20-Year Retrospective" gallery on this site.
So I have a loyalty to oilbars--they got me past a phobia of brushes, color mixing, pthalos and over-priced cadmiums. They also allowed me to sustain my love of drawing, that direct hand-eye intensity, the gestural freedom, the personal handwriting. All my work is developed directly on the canvas (alla prima), starting with rough, loose sketches (I particularly like the way these lines underlie the female figures, like veins and arteries, or internal ideas of themselves).
What I aspire to do when I pick up my oilbars is to participate in the creation of a freeze frame of desire, intuition, and response--a lucky moment that holds some meaning for me and for you.
Education:
B.F.A., Douglass College. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
Studied with Theodore Brenson, Robert Watts, Geoffrey Hendricks, Alan Kaprow, George Segal, Roy Lichtenstein, all of whom intimidated the hell out of me and drove me from painting for 30 years, probably for the best.
Media:
Oilbar on paper and canvas; pencil, charcoal and chalk on paper
Subject matter:
Metaphorical landscapes; the connection between physical and spiritual forces; human desire; holy moments
Exhibitions and Prizes:
Best of Show, Greenbrier Valley Art Festival, W.V. 1978
Exhibition of drawings commissioned by the Monroe County Historical
Society, W.V. 1978
Exhibition of drawings of historical sites commissioned by the Arts and
Humanities Council, W. Va, 1979
Bicentennial Street Fair, Lewisburg, W.V. Purchase Award, 1982
Baltimore Life Juried Exhibit "The Art of Drawing," 1990.
Open Studio Tour, School 33 Art Center, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000
Satisfied Mind, Winchester, Va., Solo Exhibit, December 1996
Mencken's Cultured Pearl, "Our Half of the Sky", Group show, November 1997
Theater Project, "Women's Work", Group Show, December, 1998
Studio Show and Sale, October 9, 1999
Satisfied Mind, Winchester, Va., Solo Exhibit, January, 2000
Resurgam Gallery, Baltimore, Md., Group Show "Spirit, Substance,
Sign," April, 2001
Simon's Pub, Baltimore, Md., Solo Exhibit "Images of the West," April, 2000
Gallery 1448, Spring Group Show, April-May, 2002
Gallery 1448, Solo Exhibit "Riffs on the Moon", August 16 - Septemb
Sassafras Gallery, "Nude Nights" group show, May 2003
Gallery 1448, Baltimore, MD, Two person show: New Works by Christian Nielsen and Judith Bair, July 11 -27, 2003
Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg, WV, "In the Woods," solo show May-June 2004
The Rotunda, Baltimore, MD, "War Zones," solo show September 2004 coinciding with Baltimore premiere of "Undercover."
Gallery 1448, Baltimore, MD, "Rhetoric and Rose Windows," Two person show with Christian Nielsen, October 2004
Autumn Harvest Festival, Monroe County. WV. First and Second Places, Oil Painting, 2005
Monroe County Public Library, Union, WV, "In the Woods," solo show November 2005
Autumn Harvest Festival, Monroe County, WV. First and Second Places, Oil Painting, 2007
Monroe County Public Library, Union, WV, "Calendar Series", solo show November 2006
Gallery 1448, Baltimore, MD, "Ghosts", solo show November 2007
Autumn Harvest Festival, Monroe County, WV, Best of Show, 2008
Greenbrier Valley Theater, Lewisburg, WV, Solo Show, Recent Paintings, November 2008
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