Distances Series Artist Statement
Distances, 26 x 38 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Blue Gauge, 28 x 22 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Steady, 48 x 30 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Blue Touch, 36 x 20 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Fostering Lines, 20 x 36 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Return To, 30 x 54 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Alone, 36 x 20 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Blue Forward, 26 x 50 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Setting Apart, 16 x 22 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Inclination, 66 x 30 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Afterwards, 22 x 28 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Forming In and Out, 28 x 48 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Set Out, 44 x 28 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Compulsion, 28 x 22 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Convergence, 32 x 24 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Continuance, 26 x 38 inches, oil on panel, 2010
In Part, 22 x 16 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Sifting Forms, 28 x 44 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Signaling, 30 x 22 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Height Upheld, 48 x 28 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Locked, 26 x 50 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Red Marking, 50 x 26 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Render Apart, 34 x 20 inches, oil on panel, 2010
Four, 24 x 38 inches, oil on panel, 2010
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Distances Within Us
In this current body of work, process plays a central role. Layers of lines, pigments, and shapes are laid down, cleared, and then selectively restored. Through decision and re-decision, the contradictions inherent in the human experience are momentarily acknowledged: the beautiful and the censured, joy and pain, anger and empathy, intimacy and isolation – from crippling psychological complexity to the freedom of letting go, and then back again. These tensions undulate on the painted surface, disappearing and reappearing, becoming familiar and risking rejection. In order for the painting to be conclusively realized, selected parts of the painting must disappear, and it is those parts that have disappeared that let the painting live.
In the forefront, at a distance, or decidedly tucked away under layers, these infinite emotional and psychological states of the human experience engage in an organic sharing of a person, and that act of sharing is the subject of this body of work. Specifically, distances within us refers to the spaces that exist within ourselves – the necessary room we must create to accommodate the full scope of our humanness. Underneath every field of color, area of rest, line drawing or detailed form lays a history of mark making that led to the final composition. Partially obscured, a complexity exists that mirrors the intricacies of our minds, our hearts, and our struggles – the ineffable things that are our essence.
© Copyright Rose Umerlik 2005 - 2023.