ellen frances tuchman
“I think it is all a matter of love: The more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is.” Vladimir Nabokov
In my abstract work, the intention is to explore the poetry of color, the marking of time (especially in the literal shift that occurs as you view the pieces from the side and then full frontally). I spin geometric modernism into a painted form that is assemblage, textiles, and drawing. It is something different; something delicate and fragile, and most of all, beautiful.
My recent years are manifested in BY ANY MEANS. Its vortex is based on falling down the rabbit hole and dying. Swirling silver iridescent paint serves as a ground for thousands of hand-painted quills that were meticulously sewn down, couched with nearly invisible threads. Falling down the rabbit hole, spinning out of control, hoping Mr. Wizard would turn me back to normal. Another allusion would be to a stormy sky with tornadic winds, leading to Oz.
My narrative paintings are a counterpoint to mass production with luscious patterning and surface embellishments, immediately throwing them into a conversation about the decorative, beauty, high-low art, women’s handwork, femininity and male potency. I explore thematic conceits and plays-on-words. Many pieces are intentionally sentimental, telling universal stories with paint, sewing, and much ornament. Recycle and reuse, indeed.
Ephemera and souvenirs weave associative paths between past and present. An idealized past battles pop culture. Beneath the pretty veneer and couture beading lays some hard truths. Rhett Miller sang of “Murder or a Heart Attack” while I used talismans and double entendres to manage pains still lurking.
Submitted by Koelsch Gallery
