The Wonder Of Water
This summer's print and photography exhibition, H₂Oh! - The Flow of Life at the Washington Printmakers Gallery, contains a unique collection of work that has been inspired by water. The variety of artwork in this show truly represents a wide range of artistic interpretations: from social commentary, to abstract compositions using line and color, to photographic imagery that captures the mystical ability of water to reflect and refract light.
I’ve always thought a Blog sponsored by an organization should offer a “value added ’’ feature that complements the focus of that organization. So in conjunction with our water themed exhibition, I’d like to offer an expansion of “water inspired artwork” by highlighting 5 artists who are not connected to the Washington Printmakers Gallery but provide sources of wonder and delight stemming from their very unique visions of water and their highly original uses of materials and subject matter.
The first artist who impressed me is Zaria Forman. Her large-scale photo realistic pastel drawings document the dynamic character of water in motion, and also its potential for destruction as polar melt contributes to rising sea levels. Her direct application of pastel often by her fingers adds another layer of personal connection to her drawings that I find direct and refreshing.
The second artist I’ve selected is Matthew Cusick. His Wave works are technically intriguing and also very handsome. It takes careful observation to discover that the water is a collage of words, symbols, and maps. The blues which come from bodies of water found on printed maps become his waves of moving sea water. The interaction of shape, color, and text are even more surprising because the source of their energy is cut paper.
The third artist is Julia Shackson who creates Textile studies of River water running over rocks and stones. Her use of color and texture through the interaction of different fibers and fabrics is truly intriguing, and represents the action of water pools and eddies in a very unexpected way .
The fourth artist I found to be special is Samantha French, whose hyper realistic paintings of swimmers in and underwater use paint to suggest the illusion of shimmering light and movement, as well as challenging the viewer to decide if the experience is bliss or peril.
Finally I’ve included the work of Wesam Mazhar Haddad. His poster “Rusted Tears’’ illustrates the crisis of diminishing water sources in some areas of our world – places where only a rusted future exists, a future without water but full of tears. The surreal combination of a tear from a human eye whose pupil is a sink drain is both arresting and disturbing. When paired with a convincing surface of rust as part of the facial texture, a sense of bitter regret is fully realized and effectively communicates the loss of hope for those who are losing their sources of water. I hope this exploration of “Water Works” heightens your appreciation of water as a source of inspiration for artistic expression and increases your understanding of how critical “Water Awareness” is in our present era of climate change.
