Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects is pleased to present Dusk, an exhibition of new paintings by Sara MacCulloch, in tandem with a show of new work by Dennis Ekstedt.
The paintings in this show explore the passage of time from the hour just before sunset, to the time just after. From when the light hits things sideways with a golden, saturated light, to when the colour and light slowly drains away, and everything turns blue and gray. For me, it is the time when one's thoughts go from outer to inner, when one is pulled towards home.
Almost all of these subjects are of the same place – geographically within probably about a hundred yards. It is the cottage I rent in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. It is the bedroom windows from outside, the view from the front porch towards the fields, the sun setting across the road, the cottages next door, and the bushes in the yard. The viewer is placed outside in the shade, with the light always in the distance.
The challenge for me is always to capture what a place looks like and feels like but also to have a relationship with the painting as I am making it. To be open to what may happen in the studio. I don't start with an exact idea of what the painting will be when I am finished. All I know is what I want it to feel like, and I never really know how that will come about.
I almost always do my paintings in one go; one session in the studio. This is to allow for clarity in purpose, but also to give the work a sense of immediacy. I want the paintings to be direct and fluid. There is a fine line between overworked, unfinished, and resolved paintings, and I am always trying to find that balance.
I waste a lot of paint, and have many frustrating days where I scrape off a whole day's work onto the floor, only to start over the next day. But in each attempt, I become clearer about what I am painting, so that in the end, the work is more concise. I want the paint to be allowed to be paint. Sometimes there are drips or imperfections, but I leave them because sometimes it is those "mistakes" that anchor the work for me.
~ Sara MacCulloch, 2010
The artist would like to acknowledge the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism and Culture for their support in the creation of these works.
To view more works from the show, please click here and scroll down.
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