Levitation
Shown
at left are three of the images from the Levitation
series by Carol Pentleton that will be exhibited at the
Greenville Public Library during September
2002. There are twelve images in the complete series,
each printed in a very limited edition of 20
giclée prints. The image size of each print is
24"x37" with a generous border and full deckled
edges.
The complete series may be viewed by accessing the
artist's internet site at http://www.thenewplace.com.
Artist's
Statement
I think of my
work as a way of entering into synergy with the cosmos
and with the collective human unconscious. I often start
with motifs that appear to me in recurring dreams,
developing them in a counterpoint between austere forms
and complex coloration. As I work, I enter a flow state
in which time stops and anomalies such as levitation and
synchronicity can take place. This flow takes the form of
improvisation, inspired by my experience as a jazz
singer, around color gradations and the tension between
elements. Luminous shapes begin to rise, glow, and
vibrate, aligning themselves into a visual narrative that
also creates an illusion of sound and movement.
The wonder and
mystery that drive my explorations arise mainly from the
subtle but vibrant possibilities of color, which have
fascinated me since I was a child. Opening a new box of
crayons the biggest box, with the most colors was a
transcendental experience; even the smell of crayons
transported me. Later, in my artistic training and life
experiences, I further explored the power of color to
symbolize feelings and relationships and to evoke
visceral emotions.
A variety of influences has informed my art. By studying
the work of Bauhaus painter and color theorist Josef
Albers, I learned that colors can be seen as motion. My
vision has also been deepened by the spare, meditative
quality of Georgia O'Keefe's work; the "edge events"
explored by Alfred Jensen; the impossibilities depicted
by M.C. Escher; and the light-filled expanses of the
Luminist school of painting. Architecture has been
another source of inspiration for my work. The designs of
Frank Lloyd Wright, H.H. Richardson, and Charles Rennie
Mackintosh have influenced my sense of color, form,
balance, and rhythm.
The medium of digital art allows me to use color to
produce three-dimensional effects, complex textures, and
an ethereal light that permeates the images. Dream-like
forms appear to hover in the shimmering glow of a
sunrise, an exploding supernova, the aurora borealis, or
the creation of the universe. Shapes, colors, and light
reverberate in a harmonic equilibrium that suggests
simultaneous stillness and movement. The images evoke
levitation, gravitational attraction, bubbles in
space-time, magnetic fields, portals, hidden passages, or
deserted places waiting for an event.
Contemplating the finished work allows me to reenter the
flow state of its creation. My art is meant to free the
mind from its everyday bonds and draw the viewer into
alternative perspectives on reality. Like clouds or
Rorschach blots, my work suggests different emotions and
images to different people; thus the viewer's imagination
becomes part of the work of art.
Biography
Images
by Carol Pentleton have been exhibited in group and solo
shows in galleries, museums and other venues across the
United States, including the Left Bank Gallery in
Bennington, Vermont, Oculus Gallery in Baton Rouge,
Lousiana, The Westport Art Center in Westport,
Massachusetts, and the Warwick Arts Museum in Warwick,
Rhode Island.
Ms Pentleton has been the subject of numerous newspaper
articles, has won several awards for her work in juried
competitions, and she is listed in Marquis' Who's Who in
the United States.
Born in 1952 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Ms Pentleton
received her early training in painting from the
well-known marine artist Louis Sylvia. She graduated from
the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA, and later
received an MFA from Syracuse University. She also worked
with architectural photographer and preservationist
William H. Gerold, Jr.
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