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Janaury Issue 2008
USC - Beaufort in Beaufort, SC, Offers Works by Blanche Douglas
USC - Beaufort in Beaufort, SC, is presenting the exhibit, Blanche Douglas: Abdication - surrender to form, light and color, which features painting, sculpture, drawing, etching, and monotype, on view through Jan. 18, 2008.
Douglas offered the following statement about her work. "In the painting Fractured, 9-11 I attempt to create the sense of dramatic tension and human striving in the face of adversity. In essence this painting speaks of what it means to be human as a body and soul in the face of threat. I use strong color and directional lines to add to this tension, along with recognizable gestures which suggest pleas for help and rescue. I see the dualities of being both vulnerable and powerful, flesh and spirit, good and bad, as aspects of what it means to be human but also part of a spiritual dimension. The out-stretched arms in the painting surge upwards, full of power, life, and energy as if towards the heavens, yet pitifully waiting for some direction or divine intervention. While the subject matter of 9/11 is dire, the piece is bright and colorful and speaks of a pervading positive hope, which is a powerful attribute of the human spirit: the belief that assistance is always at hand. I present this experience symbolically in the form of a fractured surface akin to a stained glass window, as a tribute and reminder a tribute of an important historical event - and a reminder of our human frailty, physical vulnerability and spiritual strength."
"In my work in general I explore the dynamic tensions, energies and/or forces of life that express themselves through a particular body, shape or form. This enigmatic quality, or quality of being, evokes a kinesthetic, haptic (bodily tension) or empathic kind of experience. It serves to connect me to the subject matter in such a way that I sense something familiar and related to myself, as if we were fellow beings, living, loving and suffering in this world. I seek to convey this essence, whether spiritual, physical or energetic in nature through visual means."
"The way I work is to initially have an idea in mind. Instead of forcing the medium to comply with this idea, I allow the medium to assert its qualities. I am intrigued by its expressiveness. The idea in mind begins to take on a shape or form dictated to by the medium's possibilities, whether in the form of, for instance, a strong red area that presents itself, heavy directional lines, that express movement and energy, or the delicacy of intricate textures that suggest different qualities of surface. A human body, for instance, is no longer something taken for granted with its familiar shape and textures. It becomes a collection of lines, colors and unexpected surfaces that relate to one another and come to express certain tensions. The idea or form I anticipated - whether human, animal or abstract in nature, is now replaced by a new, unanticipated image that seems to demand a different kind of completion based on its visual qualities, and its unique form of expression. During this process of discovery I feel forced into abdication: I am no longer the one in control of the image. It has expressed its own quality of being, with its unique tensions and directions. I become hand-maiden, or midwife, to this unique, unanticipated form of expression with its own unique expression of being - a being which I nevertheless feel connected to. It seems to give voice to, and serves to remind me of what I have experienced and know to be true, not as something unique to only me but to what it means to be in general, as a living, loving, suffering being in a world.
For further information check our SC Institutional
Gallery listings or call USC-Beaufort at 843/521-4100.
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