Olin Gallery to feature Squeak Carnwath
"Being Human: Paintings and Prints, 1998-2004," will open on Thursday, November 4, and will run through Saturday, December 11. A gallery walk-through and artist's talk will be held on Thursday, November 11 at 7:30 p.m., followed by a reception in the gallery.
Carnwath, who teaches art at the University of California at Berkeley, employs a complex process that incorporates numerous layers of underpainting in combination with alkyd, a substance that aids in the buildup of glazes. Her paintings have a buttery, sensual surface and embrace images that range from the cosmic (visions of the world itself) to the mundane (such as hand prints). Blending these images with poetry, color, and light, the works establish an intimacy with viewers, inviting them to ponder the wonder of life, to appreciate and revel in the ordinary.
"We spend our time . . . as if it will go on forever," Carnwath has said, reflecting on her approach to the creative process, "but we're not taking care of anything. And that not-taking-care-of the planet, or the quiet sides of our lives either, is indicative of how we as individuals don't take care of our internal life . . . . No one takes time to be in this moment, which painting does. Artists get to spend hours and days just being attentive."
Unlike many other contemporary artists, Carnwath avoids the incorporation of digital or photo-based images in her paintings. "If everything goes digital," she says, "it's all going to have the same kind of depth or resonance, and we're going to need to have something that your eyes can dig a hole into. Even though it might seem unfashionable, I'm interested in developing my own sense of material expertise-a sensitivity to the material and how the material can telegraph my feelings."
Carnwath, who earned an M.F.A. degree at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California, has exhibited widely and has received numerous awards. Her work can be found in the collections of such institutions as the Berkeley Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Palm Springs Desert Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Olin Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For further information, please call: (740) 427-5346; or visit the Olin Art Gallery Web site.