Color Conversations Laura Barr, Kay Hartung, Anne Johnstone

Laura Barr | laurabarrart.com | @laurabarrart

My work explores color, transparency, reflection and light. I am interested in the theme of impermanence; I depict blissful, fleeting, transcendent moments where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. I’m attracted to the intersection of representation and abstraction, simplifying form and creating compositions with strong underlying geometry. I enjoy the materiality of paint. I often use scale to illuminate my focus, and work in series. I am drawn to water and am concerned with its preservation and protection. It’s a common thread in my painting, whether in a glass, a pool, a river, quarry, or sea.

The “Here and There” panels, which feature carefully curated and arranged compendiums, are intended to be viewed as one work. Color, more often than subject matter, plays the dominant role in their creation. The paintings are float mounted on the panels, revealing dimension and casting shadows. The negative space, or what is known in Japan as “Ma”, is important in these panels. It provides space between the figurative notes of the paintings. At the same time, the use of a grid and simple framing presentation is suggestive of a bento box. Each painting is to be enjoyed on its own, but is an important part of a whole.

The small canvases measure 4 inches by 6 inches or “post card size” which depict evocative moments or memories. They have been described as “visual haikus”. Sometimes playful, they are most often moments of transporting quiet solitude. In the act of viewing one is taken away for a
meditative moment.

The series evolved during the 2020 pandemic, a time when many were feeling wistful about travel and connection. An alternate title for the series could be “Wish You Were Here”.

Kay Hartung | @kayhartung

In this new series, Kay Hartung delves into the realms of color, form, and geometry. She began with small sketches that evolved into vibrant paintings on paper. However, her artistic vision did not stop there; she desired to liberate the geometric forms from the confines of the rectangular form of the paper, allowing them to transcend their two-dimensional existence and stand autonomously. The shaped paintings take on identities and personalities of their own, transcending the boundaries of mere visual representations. She sees them as characters, slightly imbalanced and whimsical, full of color and contrast. As she developed the series she began to think about what sounds they might make. Her husband Paul, a musician, has composed short tunes to go along with some of the pieces.

She is drawn to the inherent precision and visual impact of these geometric forms but also introduces some organic elements that suggest a sense of whimsy. The varying textural surfaces add depth and tactile richness to the compositions and invite the viewer to explore and engage on a visceral level. Some of the forms suggest connections to architecture, houses, music, nature, and the human body. They relate to symbols of stability, the shelter of home and safety.

In these tumultuous times, Hartung’s artwork serves as an antidote, a visual sanctuary that offers respite from the darkness that surrounds us. Through her exploration of color relationships, and the interplay of abstract elements, she strives to create a space where hope and vibrancy flourish.

Anne Johnstone | annejohnstone.net

That I freak out over being alive in a human body, this is my inspiration. My abstract mixed media drawings, oil pastels, and acrylic paintings reference the somatic, in hints of a face, a torso, a plant form. My work is an outlet for what I feel or perceive but is too fleeting to be spoken. I ask myself pressing questions: How to keep my inner world intact, what to allow other people to see, what to cover up? How to expose my fraught psychology directly, without apology? They ask, How does it feel to be in this human body?

Color enchants and confuses me. I see complex colors in asphalt, skin, dawn, twilight, fog and rainy days. Muddled colors demand that I pay attention; they are replete with layers. Dense with color, my works are in the thick of anxiety. They think with hands and eyes, not with left brain calculation. They cry, FEEL me. Know my secrets and my shortcuts, my heaviness and my urgency. They jump off a cliff over and over to splatter painted content on the surface. The tremulous physical energy of my hands instigates scribbles and jagged mark making. Fuzzy edges create an atmosphere as if the painting is seen from inside out. I am interested in asymmetry and unbalance; precariousness as a means of expressing lack of control. These perceptions reflect my inner world.