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June Issue 2006
Tyndall Galleries in Chapel Hill, NC, Features Works by George Beckman and Linda Ruth Dickinson
Tyndall Galleries in Chapel Hill, NC, is presenting, George Beckman, Recent Kinetic Sculptures, and Linda Ruth Dickinson, Recent Paintings, on view through July 8, 2006.
George Beckman
Over the past decade, George Beckman has created a variety of unique kinetic sculptures. That body of work now enhances institutions and private residences worldwide. Themes of flight, music, and freedom radiate from his mirror-finished stainless steel pieces. Born in a small aviation-oriented community in Pennsylvania, his work is a study in aerodynamics. These sculptures captivate, whether in motion or at rest. Beckman blends graceful forms and intricate kinetic elements that interplay in visually flowing rhythms when a piece is set in motion. The creative synergy delights and fascinates the viewer.
Regarding his work, Beckman urges, "Experience the sculpture. Set it in motion. Let it move your mind and spirit to new dimensions. Fine art can and should impact us in just that way. It should stir our emotions and exhilarate our senses. It should have the power to erase for a moment, the hard line that separates fantasy from reality."
"Some people believe that the work of an artist has its roots in the artist's past. I agree with that premise. In my own case, I can readily see that past experiences and passions have definitely found their way into my kinetic sculptures."
"Many years ago, as a young Air Force fighter pilot, I became obsesses with flying aerial acrobatics in jet airplanes," adds Beckman. "I then discovered that every maneuver that I intended to fly existed first as an image in my mind. I could mentally envision the pattern of flight as vividly as one sees the smoke patterns that are made by stunt planes at air shows."
"How does an inspiration become a tangible work of art? I believe that the process begins with an idea. Some would call it the 'inspiration'. Whichever, it is, I take it to a metal salvage yard where I select and purchase large sheets of raw stainless steel. Next, I mark out the shapes of the pieces that I will require directly on the steel. Then I will cut the pieces out using either laser or water jet technology."
"Next, by hand using primitive devises of my own design, I bend and twist all of the separate pieces that will later be balanced and then joined together to become one art piece. Once the basic composition is in place, I begin the long process of grinding, sanding, and buffing which ultimately transforms the dull grey metal form into a brilliant, shining, and finally completed work of art."
"However, this is not the end. It is just
the beginning,," adds Beckman. " To fully appreciate
the kinetic aspect of my work, you must set the piece in motion.
Make it go! Only then can one fully experience the quiet grace,
the soaring fluid lines, and the mesmerizing blend of form and
motion that I strive to infuse in all of my work."
Linda Ruth
Dickinson
A self-taught artist born to midwestern American missionaries and raised on the island of Taiwan, Linda Ruth Dickinson draws on her transcultural heritage to bridge seemingly disparate outlooks by seeking to express the intangible through universal iconography in a synthesis of eastern and western thought.
Translating her vision primarily through paint on panel or canvas, Dickinson attempts a charting of hope within various forms of the Sacred. Because she believes that work can make spiritual beliefs manifest, her art focuses on the expression of those possibilities connecting the viewer to that which may extend beyond usual experience and ordinary existence.
This exploration is displayed in abstracted imagery reminiscent of familiar terrestrial perspective that is also evocative of the inner eye. A threshold entrance to transcendent memory and communion, her works encourage a viewing as altars of possibility that suggest, as she states it, "a tranquility observant and embracing of the declaration and dialogue between Heaven and Earth".
Dickinson's recent shows include those sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Springfield Art Museum in Missouri, the Graham Center Museum in Illinois, the Bade Museum in Berkeley, CA, the Knoxville Museum of Art in Tennessee, the David Adler Cultural Center in Illinois, North Park College in Chicago and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, Sawtooth Center for Visual Arts in Winston-Salem, Artspace and Meredith College in Raleigh. Dickinson's work was a subject of Chicago's Sacred Treasures, a 1996 PBS documentary on sacred art.
For further information check our NC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 919/942-2290 or at (www.tyndallgalleries.com).
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