Pam Horsman – Artist Commentary
I'm a painter. My work
is layered, active and color-based. It is also layered with dualities.
It's both spontaneous and meticulous. Gentle and aggressive. Beautiful
and garish. Big and small. I like that it's not one thing, I like the tension
that comes from opposing forces.
I am working with a
process of stain painting that I serendipitously stumbled onto 25 years
ago. My technique is based on the building-up and interaction of transparent
layers. It provides enough in the way of parameters to prevent me from
going down a rabbit hole every time I pick up a brush, but enough leeway
to never be bored – or done.
My process uses very
wet, thin acrylic paint – essentially stain – on unstretched canvas. The
paintings are built by layering the stains. Only one color per layer. Poured,
slung, puddled or very carefully applied, each layer is allowed to dry
completely before the next is laid down. The mixing of colors and shapes
happens through the transparencies.
It gets interesting
because the layering is not 100% progressive, roughly a quarter of the
levels reference or accentuate something from a previous layer. I am especially
intrigued with how the interwoven layers create a shifting sense of depth
and ambiguous positive/negative space.
Color is my most important
tool. For me it functions the way other artists might use contrast or line.
Some of my color can be beautiful, but some can also be jarring or even
a little weird. Mainly I’m not decorating with color, but pushing it into
different roles. I especially like the way color is malleable. It changes
with proximity and it changes with light, so it fluctuates constantly.
Beyond color, I’ve
also been dealing with motion in line and gesture – using the nature of
the paint, itself. By working with stain, I am able to get the action of
the paint without the weight. At times I drill down into obsessive treatments
– I let it happen because in addition to the overall impact, I’m interested
in giving the viewer an up-close experience that is unexpected. Lately,
I’ve been exploring the ideas of 4-color process printing as a vehicle
for pattern making, and using a dominant spontaneous mark as a more central
element.
These paintings aren't
pictures of objects or scenes so could be called non-representational.
But for me, they aren't just formal exercises – which is implied by that
term. I think it’s impossible to be completely removed from the world.
Human beings are connectors – everything we do relates to something else.
I grew up in Texas
and was raised in the Apollo-era NASA community. At the time, it was sort
of an island – made up of transplanted rocket scientists stuck in a swamp,
working on the improbable task of shooting men into space – and hoping
they came back. This backdrop, with notions of infinite space and endless
possibilities and unanswered questions, set a powerful tone for me as a
child. I see those themes reflected in my work today.
I love so many periods
of art history; a list of influences would be endless. In relationship
to my own painting, I have been most impacted by Morris Louis, Robert Goodnough
and David Reed. I like that by working with paint on canvas, I have joined
a larger, art historical tradition. The process of creating is infinitely
referential; it’s almost like collaboration. But even though there’s a
pretty strong historic precedent for stain painting, I’m not trying to
create an homage to the past. I’m using it as a jumping off point to answer
my own questions.
Pam Horsman earned
a BFA from Rice University in Painting with an emphasis in Art History.
Following a brief stint as a junior high art teacher, she has worked as
a graphic designer in the energy industry for nearly 20 years. Pam lives
and paints in the Houston Heights with her long-time partner, Chris Hedrick
and their two dogs. Woof.
Tuyet Thi Ong Artist Statement:
Tuyet (Tess) Thi Ong
is originally from Vietnam, and later Paris, now lives and works in Houston.
Her abstract paintings on canvas and paper are colorful, energetic and
bold. Her confident color choices and freedom of composition, as well as
her interest in texture and layering stem from her numerous cultural experiences
and backgrounds.
For Ms. Ong in the
studio, bits of reality can stimulate an idea for a composition, whether
it's a quality in the sunlight of the day or bits of multi colored paint
scraped from her pallet, each painting speaks with clarity. Her abstract
compositions create dynamic movement; many layers of gestures create a
network of lines traveling through an airy space. At times the numerous
gestures seem closer to a natural form like the pattern of tree bark or
lines describing the movement on the surface of water Her experiments with
texture and layering often create a sense of illusionary space, however
sometimes the thickness of the paint sits on the surface of the painting,
and wraps around the edges, insisting on the object of the canvas itself.
Her painting media include oil, acrylic, collage, colored pencil, and colored
ink, on a variety of surfaces: paper, canvas, and plywood.
Although Ms. Ong is
fluent in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and French, she desires to communicate
non-verbally through painting, leaving permanent records of a time and
place. The paintings reveal her interest in language and communication,
displaying qualities of calligraphy within the paint, revealing to the
viewer a hidden language of mark making.
The work of Pam Horsman
and Tuyet Thai Ong will be on view at Nau-haus from Saturday May 30,
through Sunday June 21, 2009.
Owned and operated
by Dan Mitchell Allison since January 2008, the Nau-haus & TCA Studios
serve as art exploration, collaboration and exhibition spaces for contemporary
art. The Nau-haus is open from noon to 5 Saturday and Sunday or by appointment
and is located at 223 E. 11th St. Houston, 77008. For more information
please call Texas Collaborative Arts studio Monday through Friday at 713-261-1409,
or the Nau-haus on the weekends noon to 5 pm at 281-615-4148. Visit the
studio and gallery on line at www.Nau-haus.com. e mail dan@nau-haus.com
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