Clare Doveton’s paintings present mists of first
creation. The planet is newly formed, and uncertain solids emerge from banks of
color. These are images of gestation. The future can be imagined from the
shapes just emerging, but certitude dissolves. The artist suggests narrations
with horizon lines and interrelationships, but the viewer must complete the
stories. Because of the layers of possibilities, sequences of events change,
and no viewing is the same. Her genius is to create the moment just before
representation. Titles suggest the artist’s intention—“Birds,” “Blessed,”
“Morning Fog,” “While You Were Sleeping,” “The Hill.”
Doveton applies (mostly) oil-based pigments using washes, rubbings,
impasto, scratches, and brushstrokes. The physicality of the final painting
arises as an essential element to its viewing. These facts of paint and canvas,
however, are unsettled by optical illusions—foregrounds shift to backgrounds.
The painter’s presence remains, as though she will return and add one more
brushstroke, which will change everything. These paintings bring viewers into
the studio as the process continues.
“While You Were Sleeping,” a small painting (8” by
8”) on canvas, suggests fieldrows, which could also be waves or terraces. Horizontal
lines scratched midpoint hint at a sky. An overlay of white spotting could be
snow or not—and references Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” very obliquely. The title
frames the work as sleep time—but is it night, a cloudy day, or dawn? This is a
meditative painting, but not one that is quiescent. The second day of creation
was one of movement, not stasis. Doveton’s work challenges viewers to share her
agitation.
View her works online www.claredoveton.com
or or see upcoming exhibitions: INVISIBLE HAND GALLERY, July 2012; PACHAMAMAS,
Sept. 2012; DIVER STUDIO, April 2013; LANDMARK NATIONAL BANK, July, 2013. STRECKER-NELSON GALLERY represents her work: strecker-nelsongallery.com
Clare Doveton’s paintings present mists of first
creation. The planet is newly formed, and uncertain solids emerge from banks of
color. These are images of gestation. The future can be imagined from the
shapes just emerging, but certitude dissolves. The artist suggests narrations
with horizon lines and interrelationships, but the viewer must complete the
stories. Because of the layers of possibilities, sequences of events change,
and no viewing is the same. Her genius is to create the moment just before
representation. Titles suggest the artist’s intention—“Birds,” “Blessed,”
“Morning Fog,” “While You Were Sleeping,” “The Hill.” 