Slow Perception

Storybook (2015), Acrylic Dispersion with Gold Leaf on Recycled Polymer, 21 x 34 in.

Thank you to Gen X artist Randall Stoltzfus, for the invitation to his latest show, Penumbra, at the Laura Korman Gallery in Santa Monica, California, USA. The show runs until 14 May 2016. From the press release:

"A penumbra is defined as incomplete or partial shadow. In astronomy, it refers to the shadow cast on the earth by the moon in a partial eclipse. Brooklyn-based artist Randall Stoltzfus translates these natural phenomena in his current body of work. ... 'My paintings take light as subject, and by necessity shadow is what I need to describe that light,' says Stoltzfus. These painted fields of circular marks also echo the rings of light found in the shadow patterns beneath trees during a solar eclipse - a visual metaphor that Stoltzfus maintains as an artistic touchstone. ... Sight and perception are intrinsic to Stoltzfus’ thoughtful process. 'Our perception is ... always partial, and always collective in a way we sometimes find difficult to acknowledge,” says Stoltzfus. 'We see individual things, less often aware of the broader condition of light and shadow that make this possible. The sources that power our sight dwarf what we actually comprehend.'"

From the artist's statement:

"'I paint the circles by hand. That might seem like an odd thing to do in the information age, but I’m doing it this way on purpose,' says Stoltzfus. 'I’m hoping that you’ll notice how each circle is different. And noticing this, your seeing will begin to slow.' Building continuous circular patterns with layers of oil, adding carefully selected pigments, gold leaf, and other media, his textured works produce abstract horizons and subtle forms that are equally alluring and otherworldly. Stoltzfus' works often make reference to biblical allegories, an influence of his Mennonite upbringing."

The ways in which visual artists help us to understand time and perception are being explored in March and April 2016 on this blog.

Wold (2015), Dispersion on Polymer Canvas, 37 x 60 in.