Nancy Coleman
May 6 – 30, 2015
Artists’ Reception: Saturday, May 9th, 5 – 8 pm
   

Nancy Coleman presents Textus, a body of new work that resides somewhere in the space between the literal and the abstract, using painted text weavings created in acrylics.

“What interests me is constructing art that evokes a visceral reaction (right brain), yet is based on text therefore appealing to the cerebral (left brain). I am using cursive text as the basis for this, as cursive is fast becoming an obsolete method of writing, despite studies that have shown it to be more fully tied to the brain and memory than both printing and typing. Its expressive character lends itself to an artistic expression with variation in line and shape. Cursive is the technique I have used for many decades in creative writing, so it’s no surprise that cursive has inserted itself into my art-making process as well.”

Coleman’s body of work is intended to be abstract in nature, and is inspired by works by Cy Twombly, Mark Tobey, Basquiat and Pollack. Melding cursive text into layers makes the layers to appear sometimes like weavings – and indeed, the words “textile” and “text” are both based in the Latin texere, meaning to construct written language or woven textiles. Even the title Textus is itself a play on words, summoning an engagement with the viewer.

Artists’ reception will include special readings of painted text poems by:

Jourdan Imani Keith
Seattle’s Poet Populist Emeritus, whose essays were chosen for the 2015 Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology

Rhea Tregebov
Canadian poet, novelist and children’s book writer, author of thirteen books, and Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia

Joan Kimura
Black/White
May 7th, 2015 5-8 pm