I BURNED WAVES lyrically circumscribes the essence of Robyn O’Neil’s recent drawings. Inspired by the power of weather and vista, the artist resolutely sets aside the figure to focus on the beauty of the landscape, the sublime. All seventeen drawings are rendered on a small intimate scale, yet the untamed power of nature continues as the dominant theme.
As intimated in the title of the exhibition, O’Neil conjures a place still in dramatic formation, witnessed in different or even parallel stages of becoming. Less concerned with narrative, the artist’s interest lies in capturing a sense of mystery inspired by the natural world. O’Neil builds up turbulent grounds from powdered graphite smudged and then partially erased before layering on oil pastel. This technique creates depth and a delicate play of luminosity and tactility while managing to convey darkened psychological states. Where her large-scale works demanded patient endurance on the part of the artist, these smaller compositions demand not so much stamina as mastery of materials.
As Beth Taylor writes in her catalogue essay, stylistically “O’Neil’s new work brings to mind the landscapes of American modernists Milton Avery and Arthur Dove. Like Avery, O’Neil’s recent work embodies an imaginative use of drawing and color that convey a more personal interpretation of landscape. The new drawings also relate to the moody atmospheres found in Albert Pinkham Ryder’s allegorical paintings, filled with dream-like land and seascapes illuminated by strange light cast through mystical clouds. Even with these affinities, O’Neil has unleashed a raw world all her own, captured frame by frame in formation and filled with a sense of excitement and possibility.”
Robyn O’Neil’s work has been included in numerous exhibitions both in the US and internationally, including the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; American University Museum, Washington, DC; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tampa as well as solo museum exhibitions at the Des Moines Art Center; The Contemporary Art Museum, Houston; The Frey Art Museum, Seattle; and the Johnson Museum at Cornell. Her work was included in the 2004 Whitney Biennial. O’Neil is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including an Irish Film Board Award for "WE, THE MASSES."
The Gallery will publish a catalogue with original writing by the artist and essay by Beth Taylor.
