|
Pulse of the Twin Cities Login |
|
If you do not have an account yet
Create One.
|
|
|
Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
|
|
|
|
Tina Blondell @ Shelley Holzemer Gallery
Wednesday 23 October @ 10:01:10 |
 by John Tribbett
There is an undercurrent of movement apparent when you sit surrounded by the female faces painted by Tina Blondell. It is not a movement of frenzied physical action. It is the movement of transformation; the often veiled tectonic shift of the psyche.
 Jezebel by Tina Blondell
It takes a minute to catch it. The first thing that strikes the eye is the spider web patterns etched upon the faces and porcelain skin. Swirling motifs that would have you believe you had fallen in amongst a tribe of henna- inspired 16th century Italian Dianas. But the beauty seeping from the deep gaze and full lips is not a renunciation to a courtly role. Instead it is an affirmation of strength. These are Maori-maiden warriors of the soul.
Each of the figures has consciously chosen to be turned inside out. To be exposed. The road map of experience has been brought forward to the flesh. The designs are not simply scars, nor are they the tattoos of locked doors and forgotten places. The embellishments are a symbolic choice to bring external witness to pain and joy, to the inevitability of change.
When Blondell began working on these paintings it was meant to be purely cathartic. It was a personal tool to cope with a painful transition in her life. She will not discuss the event, only offering that it is a familiar experience to all humans. “There is a resonating yet inaudible scream in all of these pieces, and when I finally release it, this work will be completed,” Blondell says.
She has returned to the figurative for this body of work. Other recent series evoked cultural landscapes of the southwest Anasazi and her love of symbolic imagery mined from her European upbringing. Here her familiar symbols and explorations can still be found gracefully sown among the women and their surroundings, offering a mythic quality to the women’s presence. Still, it is the realism of the human form that dominates the canvas.
Previously working with other mediums, Blondell chose to work with watercolors when she began in 1996. This was a new and delicate territory for the artist. As she neared completion of each painting, the last things to be added were the swirling dermal motifs. The black gouache application was a calculated risk. It could easily destroy the fragile work beneath. With time, she became comfortable with the technique. The jeopardizing of the work allowed it to evolve into a more powerful icon.
The paintings of the Fallen Angels series are a reflection of a pilgrimage to and from the inner world. Just as each of her women wears a symbolic roadmap of experience and change, the paintings themselves are a reflection of transformation in Blondell’s own life. This is where the movement comes from. It is inherent in the unfolding of the work. Each painting manifests a movement beyond fear and pain, by bringing the fragile parts of the self to the surface. When the hidden is exposed to the world, anguish becomes beauty, and the fading echo of the scream, a reservoir of strength.
The exhibit continues through Nov. 16. Hours: Tue. – Sat. Noon – 5 p.m. Closed Sunday. Shelley Holzemer Gallery, 4810 Nicollet Ave., Mpls., 612-824-0640.
|
|
 |
|
|
