Art Portfolio

FRINQ 131K

Art Portfolio

02/23/16

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Helen O’Toole and Will Wilson

Category A: Visual Art

1. Helen O’Toole

To Remember, 2015

(oil on linen)

Helen O’Tool is an Irish born artist. She moved to Chicago in 1987 to pursue an MFA in painting. She is currently represented by Linda Hodges Gallery in Seattle.

Helen O’Tool’s works are notable for their vague layers in appearance. She often uses oil as a watercolor, structuring her paintings in a very specific way for one’s eye to follow.

This particular piece is called To Remember. At a first glance, there are no specific shapes in the painting. On the left we observe very neutral beige, light yellow and brown, with smeared white and a wide strip of blue in the middle. In the upper right corner colors are distinctly different. There’s a very dark, black smear with layers of dark blue, a hint of red with jagged strokes of messy grey going into beige in the right left corner.

When looking at the painting, even though the dark upper right corner draws our attention, the eyes move from left to right. There’s a big difference within the two parts of the painting not only in colors but in the technique. It is very clear that the brush made gentle long strokes with neutral soft colors on the left, leaving a lot of space between the hues and skillfully blurring one into another. One the right however, taking up much less space, the colors are dense and suffocating, layering again and again to the point of dirty grey jagged vertical strokes. There’s a white outline of an object in the smear of blue on the left.

In my mind, it’s a painting of a bay with an incoming storm. The outline of an object shapes the sails on a ship, resting gently on the quiet waters drowned in humid morning mist. The light is just beginning to show through the intense clouds. A heavy storm is gathering on the right, completely devouring the rising sun. One might also see a head of an extinct animal breathing darkness onto the bay.

The light predominates the painting therefore I assume no matter how heavy the storm- it is a passing occurrence.

“Each layer of paint is potent and becomes a means to question what is real and what is not.” (O’Toole, Original Statement, Helen O’Toole, Web, 2016)

Helen grew up in the rural Ireland. According to her much of her inspiration is owed to the hardships associated with that land in her memory: the vast fields of wet, dark rocky soil with bog cotton and scarcity in supplies.

“The nature of my painting is as if reclaiming one of my father’s fields, by stripping it of its limestone heritage, to later cover it with soil, concealing what was, with the optimism of progress and a better future.”

As evident in my earlier observation, I think Helen succeeded in projecting her idea on the viewer. The distinct overpowering presence of light colors contrast the hardships of the upcoming unknown, inspiring hope for a positive outcome.

It is a very pleasant work of art.

I chose this particular painting because it resonates with my inner being. It suggests a subject for pondering but it doesn’t overwhelm one’s thought. And, although being rather abstract and romantic, doesn’t flummox the mind, making instinctive classification almost unnecessary.

2. Will Wilson

Native American Art

A large format of a wet plate collodion studio print

From the collection of CIPX

Will Wilson is a Diné photographer. Diné meaning “the people” or “children of the holy people”, also referred to as Navajo People, occupying the Native- American territory which includes portions of northeastern AZ, southeastern UT and northwestern NM. He was born in San Francisco in 1969 and studied photography at University of New Mexico. Since 2007 he has done an impressive amount of work related to his heritage.

The Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX)

Inspired by the works of Edward S. Curtis, Will came up with an idea to create a contemporary historical inquiry collection of wet plate collodion photos.

Collodion process, or “collodion wet plate process” is the editing of photographs with coating, sensitizing, exposing and developing in the wet form within the span of fifteen minutes in the dark room.

Will’s idea is to invite indigenous artists and general public for a consideration of historical facts and changes, specifically relating to the Native Americans. He believes that the technique he uses is a representation of “the time travelling aspect demonstrating how an understanding of our world can be acquired through fabricated methods”.

The Print

The print is very distinctive for the amount of black color in the picture. Dried water marks run along the frame as a result of the collodion process. Shadows and grey hues play with one another, exposing the light very distinctly.

It is a picture of a young Native American man. The attention is immediately drawn to his eyes, and throughout the observation it remains very consciously present. Among other subjects, it is a result of a wide black strip across his eye- line.

We can also see the beads around his neck, as they are illuminated among the blurred shadows.

The strip on his eyes and lines on each side of his mouth, the smudge on his chin and a large dot on his forehead accompanied by the short thin smears on each side lead me to interpret this as a traditional ritual, most likely of spiritual origin and intent.

Probably intentionally, this image brings up a though of respect in my mind. This young man must be very proud of his heritage and is not afraid to stare directly into your soul. The question in his eyes resonates and wakes my wonder. His mouth is prepped open as if he is about to say something, just for our realization, because otherwise it would be unnecessary, since his penetrating gaze speaks louder than words.

My idea of art initially is that is supposed to be meaningful and capable of versatile narration. I believe both of the visuals support that definition.

Citations:

1. Edward S Curtis, The North American Indian, Norwood, MA: The Plimpton Press, 1907-1930, 20 volumes, 20 portfolios

2. Jill Sweet and Ian Berry, Staging the Indian: The Politics of Representation, Saratoga Springs, NY: The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, 2001

3. Will Wilson, “Will Wilson Portfolio”, Photoshelter, Web

4. Helen O’Toole, Faculty/ Helen O’Toole, University of Washington: Art Faculty, WA, Web

5. Davie, DDT 1870, Secrets of the dark chamber: being photographic formulae, Ladd, 2015

6. Iverson, Peter & Monty Roessel. Diné: A History of the Navajos. University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque, NM: 2002. page 68ff.