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Past and Future:
The work from Portland artist Jeff Woodbury’s firelite series features imagery produced by the burning and blistering of black 35mm slides. Process-heavy, the images deliver almost infinite detail which they also reference by their fractal formations and apparent atmospheric perspective. The forms seem to well up from cosmos-like blackness: they could be planets or solar systems in the making; yet just as easily, they could be microscopic—dust, molecules, atoms, etc. It is precisely Woodbury’s ability to make the aesthetics of the micro and the macro coexist—even support each other—that allows his art to deliver an intense balance of observation and philosophy.
Woodbury is fascinated by the use of “destructive” processes in his art such as cutting up maps, burning paper or film and so on. The firelite series starts by taking “(…) black slides [opaque transparencies] and transform(s) them by burning, which is usually considered a destructive process. A new image is born, glowing in a vast space, on what is in reality a very thin, flat surface. Enlarging them brings out fractals and bubbles and colors. Printing them on Duratrans returns them to the state of film (…).”
Much of Woodbury’s work functions through the process of transformation. Although the firelite works use slide film, scanning and a photographic printing process, they can not be described as photography since the slide manipulations by fire are physical rather than optical. By manipulating his materials in non-traditional ways, Woodbury dissolves the clear boundaries between genres: collage and photography, for example, can become drawing in his hands. Woodbury’s work holds up in terms of content: throughout his art, one can see his fascination with the shift between the macro and the micro or between the detail and the generalization. It holds up aesthetically as well: Woodbury’s art is handsome and well-conceived.
Woodbury’s works on paper are represented in Maine by the June Fitzpatrick Gallery.
Nicholas Repenning’s flameworked glass figures show an extraordinary sense of balance and human proportion. The five figurative works on display at the Daniel Kany Gallery use their mythological subjects to bridge the gap between human culture and nature. Daphne, for example, is a lithe maiden transforming into a tree: green already, she is sprouting dendriform arms. Repenning has worked with such notable glass artists as Emilio Santini, Paul Stankard and Milon Townsend. Currently residing in Portland Maine, he offers flame working instruction through Snow Farm, Nielson-Smith Metalworks and the Deck House School where he runs the Glass Department.
The Daniel Kany Gallery is pleased to introduce the paintings of Clifford Wilton. Although a native Londoner who now resides in Oregon, Wilton’s work is a strong example of the Bay Area style of painting. The loaded brushwork and deeply layered surfaces bring to mind painters like Diebenkorn and Oliveira not because he followed them, but because they were his contemporaries when Wilton was on the faculty of the San Francisco Art Institute. Wilton is a master at the peak of his powers.
Randy Walker’s blown glass sculpture is inspired by the colors, textures and patterns found in the northern forests. His naturalistic forms, seemingly worn by weather and time, articulate a spirit and solitude one might find within the stillness of the woods. With a degree in wildlife ecology and professional experience as a woodworker and farmer, Walker brings a naturalist's eye together with a scientist's sense of detail. His fascination of and love for natural forms and materials is evident in the way he combines surface detail with a compelling feel for the organic whole. For the past fifteen years, Walker has been a lead blower at Pilchuck on William Morris's team. Walker has also returned as a frequent faculty member at Pilchuck Glass School and has taught workshops in Canada, Japan, New Zealand and across the United States. He was a featured, demonstrating artist at last year’s International Glass Art Society conference.
For more information and publication-quality images, please contact Daniel Kany.
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