Michael’s Wings, 2004 oil on canvas, 64” x 52”

SEE THE ARTIST'S GALLERY

On Friday, December 3, 2004 from 6-8 pm, William Campbell Contemporary Art will open an exhibition by Texas artist Scottie Parsons.

Ms. Parsons will exhibit new paintings and works on paper inspired by her interest in the vastness of space and infinity.

All abstract art involves the viewer in some way, whether by arousing the emotions, challenging the intellect, or setting up intuitive associations. Scottie Parsons manages to incorporate all these dynamics into unified images with subtle depths. One’s mind can move around freely within her compositions; one can breathe in the spaces between her meditative brush strokes.

Each person who stands before a Scottie Parsons canvas brings a different set of circumstances with which to engage the image. Mindset, mood, and even physical stature can further enhance the response. One can own one’s experience absolutely with such works of art that are free from the influence of referential details. These paintings do not dictate a subject or a feeling. Rather, they invite the mind to explore consciousness itself.

The images are composed by means of form and color. "Structure is important," says Parsons, "but not to the point of being rigid. It’s more like I set up a structure, then make continual adjustments until it becomes a finished piece. I start with a wash and some linear elements, then work with the relationship of color to color. Numerous changes will occur as color and form develop."

Frequently she will start out with swift, sketchy snippets of poetry, just to get past the blank canvas. It is not a literary device, but an artistic one, more related to line than message. These words are rapidly obscured as the painting progresses, sometimes by overpainting and sometimes by erasing or scrubbing off, an idea known as palimpsest. This process is a powerful metaphor for the passage of time, a consistent theme in Parsons’ work. She is careful to keep the surface alive as she proceeds, rather than allowing the paint to assume a fixed quality.

Parsons exhibits in important metropolitan galleries, although she is based in a small, geographically isolated city. This distance undoubtedly gives her a true perspective on the big picture, a perspective that can be compromised by the contingencies of living within an active art scene. She has traveled widely, visiting Greece, Spain, and Italy, among other places. She has studied with such contemporary legends as Richard Diebenkorn, Helen Frankenthaler, Nancy Graves, Nathan Oliveira, and Joan Snyder, and her work now hangs in such important corporate collections as Hallmark, Verizon, and Neiman-Marcus. Her work was also exhibited in La Paz, Bolivia, for a period of two years through the Art in Embassies Program of the U.S. State Department.

Parsons brings a wealth of ideas to her work, yet in the end her paintings transcend their content to become gateways to the not-yet-imagined. Always, her paintings include large areas that suggest the vastness of space. Where she travels within that space depends upon the direction mandated by the painting.

"Right now," she says, "I’m questioning how to expand my imagery of light, space, infinity, and the passage of time to better reflect our changing world. Sometimes I seem to be concentrating on my own perceptions and the way I feel, to the extent that it becomes repetitive, but now the work may be expanding beyond that. I realize that there is more out there past the known universe, an infinity of space which contains the kernel of creation. There is an ‘is’ that will show up."

Bete Noire: September 18 – October 23, 2004

Surface: June 19 – September 4, 2004

Judy Youngblood: May 1 - June 5, 2004