MARY BEGLEY PAINTINGS

Atmospheres, shapes and colors dance on the canvas to create their own language. When I set out to paint, I let the moment guide my hand. The first brush stroke dictates the second brush stroke, and so on. I build on what I see as the life of the painting itself and the physical act of painting.

Spatial ambiguity is one of the main themes of my work. Both the shapes I create and the paint I use to create them help to push and pull the viewer’s eye from foreground to background. Through this technique I strive to produce a certain illusion of depth on the canvas.

Shape and form in these works are not arbitrary. Their meaning and purpose pose a mystery to the viewer, but they invite close examination and interpretation. For example, one may read ruler marks as a reference to a timeline, or a thick brush mark striking through the canvas as proof of human presence. There is nothing rigidly formulaic about this process of interpretation, or any sort of hieroglyphic system to this language. Each viewer will draw his or her own story on a subconscious or conscious level.

Influences include: Matta, Kandinsky, Rauschenberg.

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