An exploration of texture…
The month of August features two artists, Fayelle Wharton Bush and Dorina Dobre, in the Rick Faries Gallery. While each exhibiting their own unique collection of works, these two artists are connected in their exploration of material, and texture.
The two collections, The Cloud Dossiers by Fayelle Wharton Bush and Limestone Tapestries by Dorina Dobre, will open with an artist reception on August 9, from 5:30-7pm.
Fayelle Wharton Bush, Bermudian artist of The Cloud Dossiers collection, has exhibited at Masterworks Museum before with her most recent solo show in 2020. In the past, Fayelle has showcased collage and encaustic work. Currently, and for this collection of work, Fayelle’s focus is on encaustic on copper panels, scraping back the wax surface to reveal colour and movement.
Exhibition Statement:
Fayelle explains, “The Cloud Dossiers is a series of artwork inspired by the concept of ‘liminal spaces.’ It showcases the ever-changing moods of the horizon-that edge of our island’s outward view. Our lives here are governed, literally and figuratively, by what we see approaching from that liminal space; gazing into the horizon we get a glimpse of the near future, and our hopes and fears as a people hang on that changing line. The horizon is the limit of the known, and this series aims to capture the wild array of emotions prompted by gazing out at such a limit–the awesome immensity, the uncertainty of our place within it, and the sublime beauty of this physical and metaphysical boundary.” Fayelle feels she is entering such a space, metaphorically, in this series; she calls it “a state of being on the verge of artistic possibilities and celebrating new horizons.”
This idea carries throughout Fayelle’s work. Her previous show at Masterworks, Bermuda Vibrations demonstrated how what lies below us can influence our moods and temperaments, and in The Cloud Dossiers the horizon, splitting clouds and sea, reveals the emotive power of gazing toward what is beyond us. As Fayelle explains, “what’s out there offers a lot of mental living space, which can be both ominous and beautifully soothing…I look up and out at something I cannot control and it provides such peace and fascination that it transcends the everyday melee of life.”
The media combined in these works include encaustic wax, gilders wax, oil pastel and shellac on copper panels. The copper is revealed in varying degrees in each work, and Wharton chose this particular metal for the way that the various waxes move on its surface. The gilders wax, commonly used to finish picture frames, glides over the surface and is mainly applied with finger strokes to form the clouds and sky. The primarily encaustic seascapes are formed by multiple layers of coloured encaustic medium (wax and resin mixture) applied in a melted form by paintbrush and then fused to the surface with a heat gun or a blow torch. The effects of layering are revealed by scraping back with a razor blade or applying shellac and heat to the wax to achieve an alternative texture.
Some works are augmented by additional copper pieces applied to the surface of the original panels. These act as windows into another dimension of the tableau–hinting in colour, texture, and detail at what may be below the surface of these enamel-like paintings.
The exhibition will be available to view until September 3.