Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery of Shelburne, will be showing "In the Year of the Buffalo: Recent Paintings by Barbara Wagner", May 28-July 6, 2010. The public is invited to an opening reception with the artist on Friday, May 28, 6-8 p.m.
Barbara Wagner has integrated indelible images from her experience traveling to Southeast Asia in 2009 into this most recent series of oil paintings. In reference to this work, Wagner says:
"For me, travel has become an important source of artistic inspiration (not to mention cultural broadening), Turkey, Botswana, and elsewhere have offered opportunities to grow and refresh my artistic spirit. To both soar and be seared.
“In 2009, the Year of the Buffalo, Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos offered the latest transformation. The paintings in this show were completed in the months following my return.
I am aware of two different subgroups in these paintings. One in which my observations are painted more poetically and symbolically, as I try to capture the spirit of these places and people. Bamboo, Cambodian silk, and handmade paper from Laos, are used in several of the paintings, as well as the triangle, symbol of the ever-present conical hat, the Nón lá (leaf hat) of Viet Nam.
"In the second group of paintings, I have incorporated a bit of recognizable imagery, sometimes whimsically. The bas-relief 500-year-old temple elephant wall at Angkor Wat, the elaborate and beautiful textile garments of ethnic groups, particularly the women of Sa Pa, and Cambodian silk elephants, all make their way into this group of paintings.“Because the number five is so important in this culture, all the paintings incorporate five divisions as part of their structure.
“Always, and most important, I am interested in the differences and similarities among cultures, the interconnectedness between life and art. This culminates for me on my canvases."
Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery is located at 86 Falls Road, in Shelburne Village. Hours are Tue-Fri 9:30-5:30, and Sat 10-5.
For more information please call Joan Furchgott, 802-985-3848, or go to fsgallery.com
Images:
Top: In the Year of the Buffalo #2, Oil on linen with Cambodian silk & bamboo & handmade paper from Laos, 36 x 30"
Bottom: In the Year of the Buffalo #7, Oil on linen with Cambodian silk, bamboo, & handmade paper, 12 x 12"
