New Work: Ode to Ellsworth

Ode To Ellsworth
painted paper collage on wc paper
15" x 18"

Early on, when I was really investigating other artists and trying to learn about art history, I of course came across the work of Ellsworth Kelly. To this day, what really draws me to his work is the simplification of forms. I have read that his shapes and compositions reflected his perception of what he had seen, like shadows on a wall for example. The simultaneous simplicity and complexity of his work is really appealing. How just two shapes and two colors can be so profound is an amazement. 

He died several years ago but prior to his death, he gifted the concept of a building design, called Austin, to the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas. The article link is worth a read if only to learn just how much faith and effort went in to completing Kelly's "chapel" design. It isn't a religious space so much as it is a space to contemplate spirituality, if that makes sense. He meant it to be aesthetic only but after seeing the spareness and beauty of the colored light coming through the windows, I can't help but wonder how anyone couldn't be moved by the non spiritual/spiritual experience. 

In any case, I was drawn to one of the windows in the chapel which looks like a rainbow burst of light. I made my own version of that window as a sort of centerpiece of the above work. I love any kind of a chance to use rainbows in my work and so my own "Ellsworth window" satisfies that need. 

As always, I wish I had another artist's sensibility. (I have my own which is fine but still.) Kelly's thought processes and execution of his ideas seems amazing to me: to be able to distill something complex down into something simple and pleasing. What a gift. 

This is my first finish of 2019 . It feels like a solid start to me and I am hoping I won't falter or stray too much this year from my own ideas and perceptions. Here's to a good year!

Libby