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Indepth Arts News: "Suspended in Memory: Fragments and Impressions in Resin, New Work by Rebecca Woodhouse" 2007-05-30 until 2007-07-01 Viveza Gallery Seattle, WA, USA United States of America
"I am fascinated by the mystery within the process of working with resin," said Woodhouse. "The fluid nature of the medium appeals to me. The way it flows, spreads and hardens enhances the abstraction of the words in the work."
The soundless, literary works that emerge focus the viewer on the emotional weight, unsung beauty and personal significance of a hand-written word, rather than the specifics of literal meaning. Texts often blend together; working as color, line and texture, allowing them to work visually as a formal element of the artwork rather than as a clear, open statement. In her recent shadow box works, which developed as she was seeking inspiration in personal memorabilia, clear references to an esoteric narrative emerge in the form of journal pages, letters and photographs, suspended like sediment in a reluctant outpouring of subconscious debris.
"This series of resin work is primarily a mixed media collection, focusing on the mixture of text and image," she notes. "Every line and color is a word, abstracted by the layering and by the fluid nature of epoxy resin. To this, I add photos, cards, and little pieces of history, aiming to create an evocative record of moments in time." Each resin filled shadow box becomes an artifact of the artist's experience. The viewer is thus enticed to voyeurism yet sees only an impression, a fragment so cut-off from its origin by the passing of time and the obfuscation of the record that only a general, wordless sense of the experience remains. The liminal phase between experience and history is thus captured and the viewer understands what Woodhouse has related only as one understands a nod or a sigh.
"Photographs can evoke memories and thoughts in viewers more directly than the abstract image usually can," Woodhouse believes. "Photographer Diane Arbus said, 'the photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.' I have always thought of my painted words in this way, and I think the photos divulge even more. My focus is on the connection between the words and images. I entwine them, letting each reveal only so much. I want to show them and hide them. I want to share my secrets yet keep them concealed."
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Viveza Art Experience is proud to present Suspended in Memory: Fragments and Impressions in Resin, new work by Seattle artist Rebecca Woodhouse. This exhibit will run from May 30th to July 1st, 2007, with the public reception the evening of June 1st, 6-10pm. Woodhouse will be present at the opening reception. It may be said that all painting involves at least a little storytelling. Whether an artist is relating a clear narrative, a subtle emotion or an expressive record of their creative process, each relates some thought, feeling or experience through their art. Rebecca Woodhouse takes this concept to a more literal level, literally. Woodhouse applies thick layers of pigmented resin to canvases or, as in her most recent series created for Suspended in Memory, shadow boxes using the gesture of the written word. Her words flow in streams of thought; recording layer after layer of histories more tangible than they are legible, reforming as they are forming--being forgotten as they are remembered.
