art Archives - Page 8 of 14 - The Curated House

The Curated Collection | Brent Boechler

I have long been an admirer of the work of abstract artist Brent Boechler. To describe the draw is to describe something altogether visceral. I simply connect with the work on an intuitive level – the colour, the composition, the juxtaposition of chance and intention.

Though not at all literal, there is something of the human connection implied in Boechler’s abstraction.

Perhaps it is the collision of chaos and beauty that speaks to me – a filtering of what is real into something conceptual and therefore more palatable in its limitations.

What is it about abstract art that speaks to you? Can you put words on it, or do the words feel rather like an ill-fitting dress put on a beautiful girl? That is how it is for me with Brent’s work, so I will stop stitching together the ill-fitting garment of sentences and instead wish you an inspired Monday, filled with beauty that cannot be put into words.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|April 22nd, 2013|0 Comments

The Curated Collection | Barbara Cole

My fascination with water goes back to my earliest memories. Somehow it was always the place where I felt most at home – free to explore the stillness or the resistance in it; to work hard and feel the grip of my muscles against the pull of its density, or to simply float effortlessly while dreaming limitlessly.

Water has always had the power to distort things in a meaningful way for me. It took the limits others placed on me and helped me push them back like a wave. It became my sound-proof sanctuary where I could reveal my heart, knowing no one could understand my watery words. My sacred revelations rippled out into the blue like the play of light beneath the surface. I suppose water has always been rather healing for me since then.

I share this with you because I think it explains why I have such a visceral reaction to the fine art photography of Barbara Cole. She, too, sees the power of water to distort things meaningfully, transforming beauty into an otherworldly underworld of figurative fantasy.

A self-taught photographer who started out in image making in the 1980s, Cole pushes beyond the limits of rules and standard practices, delving deep into the realm of the spectacular.

Cole lives and works in Toronto and will be revealing her latest body of work in September 2013 at Bau-Xi Photo.

Wishing you all a day of working and resting; of labouring and dreaming; of light and sound and sanctuary; of safety in being known.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|April 8th, 2013|0 Comments

The Curated Collection | Jessica Backhaus

“To see the world in a grain of sand,

to see heaven in a wild flower,

hold infinity in the palm of your hands,

and eternity in an hour.”

William Blake

I’ve been learning to slow down and leave room for contemplation of late. Sometimes we learn this on our own, sometimes circumstances thrust this change upon us, but it is always a lesson to be received with gratitude. The usual pace of life had me missing far too many of the fleeting yet beautiful details, and it’s only in slowing down that we become more apt observers of ourselves and the world around us.

I feel I see that practice of – slowing down to see things through fresh eyes – through the lens of art photographer Jessica Backhaus. Her “I Wanted To See The World Series” has reminded me that beauty is often reflected back for us to admire if we only take the time to see it clearly.