Half a Life on Canvas

Transformations
By Addition or Subtraction

Gail is an intensely visual person, always looking at the things around her, whether natural or human-made. Naturally, then, one of her primary approaches is to transform something from the outside world into an image that is expressive or suggestive. She used this approach extensively in the earlier part of her career; over the last two decades, however, even though she still sometimes paints recognizable imagery, such works are the exception rather than the rule.

There are several ways in which an object can be transformed. We see the most basic way in Heart and Lungs, the earliest painting in this exhibit: using color, pattern and perspective to change the object from something common and recognizable into something else, puzzling perhaps, or even startling, but in any event, something we see as if for the first time. The startling impact of del Mar Rojo derives from the vivid contrast of blue and red as well as the enlarged close-up view and unusual subject matter. Otra Dimensón displays a transition to a more complex and evocative development of this basic method of transformation. In addition to the radical change in perspective, the transparent two-dimensional patterns in this painting are more richly and tactilely textured. These effects can be achieved through brushwork, palette knife, or the temporary or permanent application of objects to the wet paint.

The inverse of this technique is to simplify a thing to its essence by taking away everything that can divert attention elsewhere. Witness the shimmering rain-washed quality of earth and sky in After the Rain or the crowded anonymity in Lost in the Crowd. Luminous and revealing, light is the essence of everything we see. And since Gail switched from acrylics to oils after moving to Santa Fe in 1986, light has become a principal concern in her painting--particularly light which seems to emanate from within (Morning's Radiance) or from a place deep beyond (Washed by Sunset).

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