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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
July 28 - August 3, 2005 Edition
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Art:
Between chaos and harmony
Colter is no newcomer to the Island art scene. She’s lived in Edgartown since the 1980’s and has been affiliated with Cousen Rose for the last eight years. She also shows her work nationally. What really matters is that she’s been painting most of her life. It’s her passion. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, even Colter’s marriage and family hasn’t kept her too far from her art. In the last few years, however, her collage work has shifted. Sharp abstractions thick with color and irregular representational imagery have yielded to spacious, unencumbered creations that have grown out of Colter’s desire to “find a balance of chaos and harmony within each piece.” The titles of her work also seem to reflect her intention. “Living by Sea” is a large canvas of cornflower blue on which both urban and oceanic worlds co-exist. From a distance the piece resembles a sparse urban grid of canals and a few buildings in what are really rectangles and squares. Two big blocks, one orange-yellow, the other midnight blue, are stacked at the bottom, anchoring the piece. Black dots and bars may be gates through which viewers enter and exit city limits. But a close examination reveals another scene — a subdued sea scuffed with texture, fossil-like impressions, faint lines and subtle color. What could be a floor plan or a story of how civilization developed, “Intentional Shift,” is a piece that juxtaposes earth tones and deep purple, teal, and red. The painting’s counterpart, “Earth Symphony,” is similar in color and composed of airy, geometric shapes including layers of circles. Colter’s use of color is noteworthy. Though she cites Van Gogh’s intense palette as an influence on her own work, she often applies neutral colors broadly and thematically to convey a fixed and familiar experience. Also, by repeating various objects and small patterns in each piece, she unifies other dissimilar elements that might otherwise stand alone. But Colter’s artwork is far from staid. While she defines boundaries, she’s not afraid to paint outside the lines. Instead, surprises await the viewer in every piece. For example, in “Intimate Breath,” bright blue squares pierce through the top half of a green-shaded canvas. Its pigment is reminiscent of young bamboo. Lightly scratched into the surface are markings that resemble Chinese characters arranged in rows on the lower right side of the collage. A metallic gold is swept into the background where playful swirls of black reside. Luring the viewer into the piece is a strip of red, an unexpected element that is given enough space to do its job. Colter’s works on paper are also given room to breathe. Each piece is framed in a wide, white mat and light maple wood. Notice “Sequence of Events.” It’s an oddly-constructed pillar of squares or blocks that takes one from a starting point to a moment when “something unreal seeps into the reality of recollection,” as the clipping reads in the piece. In all, Colter’s work speaks for itself. Each invites inspection. No interpretation necessary. Deborah Colter’s work is on view through August at Cousen Rose Gallery, Circuit Ave., Oak Bluffs. 508-696-6656. |
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