These new pieces by Peacham artist David Smith revolve around his musings on visually "entering" the natural world around us, and the alternative meanings suggested by the roots and historic uses of the word "entrance." The artist says:
As I’ve noticed over and over, being locked in the studio for long periods of time can cause me to spiral inward, not necessarily in a good way. Starved for outside nourishment I begin to devour myself and so I exhort myself and all who’ll listen to paint outside, to forage and replenish from the Green World and bring that nourishment back into the studio for fresh synthesis.
Entrance is a title for one of the paintings here [above], the entrance from the human-made world into the natural one, but that word also relates to trance: a state of profound abstraction or absorption, a state of mind in which the rational is fragile. To paint outside is to replace rationality with responsiveness. The Green World is a Shakespearean term where civilization is set aside and the dynamics of the forest, with its unexpected metamorphoses, take over. It’s where visions happen in the fog, where trees shift and dance and colors in the shadows intensify. It’s where we are taken out of ourselves and become part of something larger and less controlled.
All this works well with oil paints, which I consider to have mysterious properties of their own. Entrance is also a theater term meaning the first entry of an actor into a scene. Hopefully that’s a metaphor for the viewer and the painting.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: Entrance, oil on board, 22 x 36"; Sea Wedding, oil on board, 18 x 32"
