BARBARA STRASEN
Artist Statement
My work is about the potential beauty of complexity, the apparent chaos of contradictory images. My perennial focus is in finding connections between unlike images that echo the way in which our perceptions are underlaid by memories and by cultural, historical, and archetypal images.
There is a structure, a harmony, even a calm that underlies these storms. In viewing, disparate images become juxtaposed, revealing a congruence and commonality between them. The discovery of the commonality between the component images, and the resulting integration of opposites, induces a wider experience of empathy and we find ourselves swimming toward serenity. As might be expected, this work does not read quickly—the images and the relationships between them reveal themselves slowly, and surprise is an essential part of the experience.
My visual means include drawing, painting, collage, installation, and lenticular art works. Most of the imagery relies upon painted versions of existing two-dimensional motifs, but these are mixed with graphically, or even photographically derived components. In addition to conventional paintings and drawings, I have worked with multi-layered transparent media (e.g., Mylar and Plexiglas) and with lenticular lenses that allow combining multiple images in a single visual field.
There is a structure, a harmony, even a calm that underlies these storms. In viewing, disparate images become juxtaposed, revealing a congruence and commonality between them. The discovery of the commonality between the component images, and the resulting integration of opposites, induces a wider experience of empathy and we find ourselves swimming toward serenity. As might be expected, this work does not read quickly—the images and the relationships between them reveal themselves slowly, and surprise is an essential part of the experience.
My visual means include drawing, painting, collage, installation, and lenticular art works. Most of the imagery relies upon painted versions of existing two-dimensional motifs, but these are mixed with graphically, or even photographically derived components. In addition to conventional paintings and drawings, I have worked with multi-layered transparent media (e.g., Mylar and Plexiglas) and with lenticular lenses that allow combining multiple images in a single visual field.
