MARTHA WALLULIS
SOLO EXHIBITION
SOUK
9.04.2008
ARTIST STATEMENTThis
exhibit includes select works from four recent bodies of work.
I.
In the figurative work, I am using oil paint on paper, with
hand-built frames. I chose the darker, more gothic looking frames to
accentuate the edgy content and darker psychological tone which is
present in the works. The works themselves do include
autobiographical content; they were a catharsis of sorts, created
over a short amount of time in response to an intense personal
struggle of my own.
Good
Wolf / Bad Wolf
explores the power of the male gaze, and subsequently the power of
the gaze within a work of art itself. The male is painted from
reference photographs derived from perfume ads, and therefore he
himself originates from a figure related to sexual desire. The figure
in the painting directly confronts the viewer. Is it a menacing look,
a seductive look, or a wolf ready to devour? Or is it harmless? The
painting is suspended by the extremity of its gaze, walking the line
between a defined “good” and “bad”…
Two
Children in a Dream
and A
Moment With You
are both paintings exploring romantic relationships. The first is a
cold yet sweet depiction of dancing figures, holding each other in a
reality that is precious to them, ultimately fleeting, as a dream.
The latter, however, becomes ironic, sarcastic, and biting. The
monumental figure who the female is trying to grasp, hold onto, does
not seem to be helping her keep from drowning. Who are these ideal
and monumental figures in our lives in whom we place all our hope…
and when is this futile… The subtitle )titanic( is simply a
reference to the sinking (monumental proportions) and does not imply
that the painting is itself a direct illustration of the movie
Titanic. The mask-like idealized, stylized female figure staring out
speaks also of an alienation, and the masks within relationships…
II.
The second body of work is the TimeSpace
series of Thesis paintings, created for my PNCA graduation. TimeSpace
1
and TimeSpace
3
are exhibited. With this work I decided to not represent the figure,
and subsequently was freed to embark on a journey exploring
conceptual abstract imagery. Concepts of infinity and space-time were
studied, as well as the interactive relationship between the viewer
and the art. For more in depth information on this work, please go to
the PNCA library, or http://launchpadgallery.org/crossover
,
where my written thesis is archived in its entirety.
III.
The third body of work is comprised of small, meticulously painted
gouache on paper works, created for the Crossover show with Krislyn
Dillard, at Launchpad Gallery, exhibited in November of 2007. These
works begin a new concept – that of forms, lives, relationships,
crossing over… Where does one life cross over the next? What lies
in the space between? What lies in the exterior space? Ribbon-like
forms continue to be created in these works. Also coinciding with the
crossover concept are images of fires – fotyies
in Greek. The small works are about precision; I want to draw the
viewer in close enough to see the detail: oftentimes, in order to
achieve it, I had to use only the very tip of a very small brush,
down to very few hairs. I began noting further the relationship
between forms on a very large scale, such as the cosmos, planets,
universes – and the forms which exist in the world of the very
small – such as on the biological molecular level… It is the
concept of a universe within a grain of sand, and a grain of sand
within a universe… I am enjoying furthering this exploration within
painting. Creating these often curvilinear abstract forms gives me
much joy, as does the ambiguity present within them. Ultimately the
viewer is free to move and breathe within the imagery, although I do
hope that you really look closely at the small works. It is much
different than the experience of the large paintings – if the
viewer does not take more initiative to move closer, one may miss a
great deal of the detail and meaning present in the small works.
IV.
Also created for the Crossover
show, the larger oils on panel (Strange
Attractor(s),
Fire
Flight,
And
Then I Fell,
and The
Tree of Life is Bleeding)
are spontaneous, gestural, oil paintings on panel. Rather than work
the paintings extensively, I deliberately chose to realize them
quickly, capturing their initial energy. The works are painted on
salvaged pieces of the set from Imago Theatre’s Uncle Vanya. The
painting method is aggressive and physical, in direct contrast to the
very small, precious, finely and meticulous (obsessive) rendering of
the Crossover works exhibited with them.
For
more information on these or any other works, please do not hesitate
to contact me directly at mwallulisart@gmail.com
&/or 971.255.1385 .
To download this statement in Word format: ARTIST STATEMENT
...
CROSSOVER
DUO EXHIBITION WITH KRISLYN DILLARD
LAUNCHPAD GALLERY
2007
PDF Version of Crossover's Artist Statement
This statement is also posted here
...
PNCA THESIS SHOW
2007
FOR COMPLETION OF BFA DEGREE IN PAINTING
M WALLULIS WRITTEN THESIS (PDF), courtesy of Launchpad Gallery & M Wallulis. Feel free to download - please note it may take a little while - it is 79 pages long.
The Thesis is also available in the PNCA (Pacific NW College of Art in Portland, OR) library.