Schneider Museum of Art
Theodora Varney Jones
Transparency No. 23
Theodora Varney Jones
Transparency No. 20
Theodora Varney Jones
Transparency No. 22
Double Red Whirl, 2003 and
Black Whirl, 2001 by Echiko Ohira
Intimate Revelations
International Women's Exhibition (continued: Page 5)
Kyung Sun Cho
Kyung Sun Cho was born in Taegu, Korea in 1962; she moved to Brazil with her family when she was 6 years old. In 1977 she traveled to the United States for her education at the University of California Berkeley, where she earned her BA, MA and MFA.
Her work in painting and drawing was always abstract and when asked to comment about the series shown here she said,
In my recent work I am reflecting on ideas of personal “debris” as well as cultural debris accumulated from fragments of experience and memory. Collecting such debris includes feelings of joy, sorrow, desire, loss, hope, comedy, tragedy, fear, love, hate and more… The images are playful yet they are raw – preserved in remembrances and dreams. The work also strongly references my childhood in Brazil, and yet it remains significant and relevant to this very day. Both I am, and the work is, informed by the diverse cultures that – I am part of, and that I identify with … The Brazilian environment I grew up in, as well as the Korean characteristics of our home, brought by my parents from their native land.
Theodora Varnay Jones
Varnay Jones’ work must be seen and experienced in order to have it attain its perceptual magic. Difficult to describe, it consists of shallow rectangular or square constructions, just slightly three dimensional which hold within their borders layers of materials which absorb and/or reflect light, creating nuances of delicate color. Such subtle variations also occur when viewers change their vantage point, thereby changing the angle of light penetration.
Reviewing these same pieces for Artweek, critic Frank Cebulsky quotes the artist disclosing that “obscured drawings and markings were made on the underlying surfaces which (although invisible) are buried on the bottom like childhood memories which she calls undercurrents.” Further he states that-“the drawings and markings are the determining foundation that she builds upon, and which in fact alter their perceptions.”
In essence these are minimalist works whose simplicity of form places them under the general descriptive term of geometric abstraction, with the added sensual appeal of refined color modulations. These are subtle. Tightly controlled harmonies composed like music by a sophisticated, highly disciplined sensibility that values restraint and reflects an elegance of the spirit.
No undue familiarity here- no confessionals, no emotional outbursts, no self-indulgence or loss of control. These works are formal, contained and keep us at arm’s length even as they seductively enchant us.
Echiko Ohira
She is a very gifted, very quiet woman.
The words of French sculptor Jean Arp come to mind as I try to define the essence of her work:
Art is a fruit that grows in the artist like a fruit or a plant or a child in the mother’s womb. But whereas the fruit of the plant, the fruit of the animal, the fruit in the mother’ womb assume autonomous and natural forms, art, the spiritual fruit of man, usually shows an absurd resemblance to the aspect of something else. I love nature but not its substitutes.”
The fruit of Echiko’s hands is lovingly and attentively shaped by her eyes and her mind. It blooms in silence assuming marvelously invented forms and complex surfaces, layered, twisted and turned, wrapped or folded – sometimes ragged, sometimes silky smooth.
Part of her Japanese heritage is a reverence for nature and its materials - an almost contemplative awe at the rich variety and the many possibilities to be discovered in the gifts bestowed on those who look and see – infinite forms, textures and colors of the natural world.
Echiko has studied it all – has noticed every infinitesimal detail – has missed nothing, and repeated nothing. Her work alludes to and reveals – but never duplicates.
Simple and deep they are like Haiku poems – eloquent – short – thoughtful – and unforgettable.
More Intimate Revelations:
Pg. 1: Yolanda Andrade Pg. 2: Belkis Ayon Pg. 3: Christel Dillbohner
Pg. 4: Mari Omori/Maritta Tapanainen Pg. 6: Sosa Joseph Pg. 7: Younhee Paik
