Spontaneity and discipline; illusion and reality; memory and vision,
photographic image and abstraction. Contradictory? Not really. When
you view the new works by Joan Furia Klutch, you'll understand.
The theme of the exhibit is "Wabi Sabi," which translated
from the Japanese, means "the beauty of things imperfect"
Klutch inspired by her travels to the Orient and elsewhere has collaged
fragments of music, photography, architecture, calligraphy, feathers,
and painted landscapes onto watercolor paper in an unexpected unity
of opposites.
Klutch's monoprint collages are at once exciting and calming. Her
experimental techniques and lavish use of color arouse the senses.
Ancient music illusions, created with color, space and materials
evoke both primal and contemporary. Unexpected images of parrots,
geishas and sheet music punctuate several of the works, delighting
the eye and mind, as the observer 'reads' the visual composition.
"My mentor, many years ago, motivated me to consider the yin-yang:
'the extreme of one thing contains within it the seed of the other'"
says Klutch, who feels that people have misinterpreted this to mean
they should avoid extremes and instead seek an bland, temperate
lifestyle. "Why would you want to set a constant balance in
life and art?" she asks. "The real balance of yin and
yang is the ability to go to the extreme without going over the
edge."
Klutch's new work is indeed edgy, but it achieves a mesmerizing
balance; the 'missing pieces' of humanity, emotion and nature are
combined to achieve an almost perfect visual experience. Wabi Sabi. |