All posts by Kristen Scholfield-Sweet

Adrift Above The Arctic Circle: Love Of Place

The current exhibition at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery, by Iris Steigemann, is an expression of Topophilia: the affective bond between a person and a place. The art works of Adrift above the Arctic Circle are symbols that have the power to suggest the whole. The whole of a place–with no editing, shaping, distorting through politics, commercial interests or customs. In our daily lives, primary experience is often screened by multiple layers of distortion, yet art can clear this fog. Here are some ways in which I think Iris has met this critical challenge of clear seeing.

Continue reading Adrift Above The Arctic Circle: Love Of Place

Painting with Eyes Closed at the Art Gallery: Passing the test

Tests in art school are rarely what we imagine.  In Painting with Eyes Closed, the current exhibition at the Old Schoolhouse art gallery, Filipe Figueria has taken up the challenge of this test: a painting should be satisfying at a distance of both 12 inches and 12 feet.  So, what does it mean to be “satisfying?”

Continue reading Painting with Eyes Closed at the Art Gallery: Passing the test

Seeing the language of Art

Art is a language received through the senses, and viewing the Member’s Show at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery is a perfect opportunity to learn how this visual language creates feelings and messages when we look at the art works.

Continue reading Seeing the language of Art

Looking at Art in a group show

It is usual to look at one artist’s work hanging in a gallery. It may be more complicated to look at 20 artists displaying more than 30 pieces on the walls in almost every media used to create art.

Here are some ways I enjoy looking at art in a group show.

Continue reading Looking at Art in a group show

Art review for Chroma, A journey into colour

Christann Kennedy’s exhibition, continuing at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery, demonstrates that good art never stops revealing itself. Christann states that she thinks “about the interactions that occur along the borderlines between colours…when colours appear to activate and enliven each other, push each other forward or back, conflict with each other, or blend and harmonize like the notes of a musical cord.” Here are some ways to travel in these colour borderlands.

Continue reading Art review for Chroma, A journey into colour