Across contemporary art forms, visual languages leading to a thorough
exploration of the natural world are extending far beyond the pithy,
stereotypical mores of landscape, or quaint sculptural reproductions of birds
in flight. With thanks to abstraction, an increasingly global community, and
what some might dub “new age” thought, we are aware of entire realms
awaiting human expedition, and thus the idea of “naturalness” in art can
never again be assumed as staid.
For BigTown Gallery’s “Natural Wonders,”
three artists — Anda Dubinskis, Marcy
Hermansader and John Udvardy —
possessing varied styles and artistic
philosophies, were assembled under a
single roof by owner Anni Mackay in
hopes of emitting notions of interaction,
clash and synthesis between humanity
and the natural world.
“The show was originally slated for
October 2011,” explained Mackay. “But
we had the flood (Hurricane Irene),
which of course devastated much of
the area. So there’s a bit of irony in the
title.”
She continued, “All of the artists —
particularly Udvardy, with his materials
— work within the thematic frame. As
for the other two, there’s much ironic
juxtaposition in the work. What bonds
the three is the phenomenon of wonder
at the natural world, which presents
itself in each exploration.”
Mackay is correct in pointing out that
Udvardy, from Bristol, R.I., exhibiting a
series of angular, salmagundi sculptural
assemblages in iron, wood and glass,
attends to a naturalist theme in
material, if not in philosophy, which
he disavows in any case (“I dislike
categorizing or applying themes, in the art world and outside of it,” he told
me). Yet in interviews, Dubinskis and
Hermansader pointed to specificities
of experience which inform their works’
dialogue between personal perception
and the universe outside the skin.
Dubinskis lives in Philadelphia, where
in conjunction with her gouache career
she acts as drawing coordinator and
assistant professor in the visual arts
department at Antoinette Westphal
College of Media Arts and Design. Her
parents emigrated from Latvia; as a
child she couldn’t speak English, and
turned quiet and reclusive.
“I went into the bigger world and didn’t
understand much of it,” Dubinskis said.
“I fell into the role of silent observer.
So I turned to painting and the creative
world to digest and reorder what I was
making of sensory input. This is also
the reason for my figurative interest:
exploring the psychology between
people as I see it remains an emotional
journey for me.
“Essentially, my work focuses on
relationships and narrative. I like to
explore the idea of narrative between
individuals, objects or of a location.”
Hence, a storytelling piece such as
“Civita,” on printed rice paper, hints at history, memory and a character’s
relationship to surroundings, real or
imagined. A woman stands in a pool of
water at bottom center, hands upraised
into a torrent of red, while a stone
path of some long-ago castle or estate
swirls from her mind into oblivion.
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