Image of the Week: The Riverbed
© Durga Yael Bernhard
The Riverbed is one of many paintings I've done using a unique paintings surface that I invented about twenty years ago. For decades I've collected textured rice papers, which I used for linoleum block printing throughout my twenties. After the birth of my second child, it became impossible for me to continue printmaking – it was simply too time-consuming and messy. I was restricted to working small, with water-based paint that I could walk away from easily if my baby or toddler needed me. That was okay with me, as I loved working in gouache paint, which is ideal for small works; and I drew inspiration from such artists as Paul Klee, who also worked small, and Pablo Picasso, who worked in all sizes and mediums.
But I still yearned to use my beautiful collection of rice papers, with their silky fibers and earthy textures. They were the color of cream or terra cotta, smoky mauve or pale muted green. Some pieces were mere scraps; I couldn't bear to throw them out. So I tore them into strips and glued them down on matboard, creating a collage that serves as a unique painting surface. If you've seen my Jewish Eye calendars, you've seen my paintings on rice paper collage before. Here is one example.
Only certain images are appropriate for this collaged surface. It must interact with these lateral strips, and have empty areas that allow the rice paper surface to show through. Like a weaving, the underlying horizontals must be cross-fertilized by perpendiculars and diagonals. My mind sifts through all these considerations as I work, navigating choices according to this "visual physics."
The painting itself is an image of fertility. What is fertility but potential yet to be filled? The woman stands in patient receptivity, waiting with open hands. Life flows through her, carves into her as a river forms its own bed. She is the riverbed, the vessel through which creative potential flows and comes into form.
My third child was a toddler when The Riverbed was painted. Like a river slowly changing the curve of its flow, I felt the direction of my creative potential shift as my childbearing years came to an end. Like a river, it changes with the seasons, and seems to flow of its own accord. At times, the river becomes a flood. And it is always, always moving.
The Riverbed is for sale, and measures approximately 10"x14". Please inquire if you're interested.
Wishing you a week of free-flowing creativity, whatever you do.
D Yael Bernhard