Image of the Week: Woman With A Vessel
© D. Yael Bernhard
Woman With A Vessel was created during the "white outline" phase of my development as an artist. The painting, done in gouache in the late 80s, measures 22" x 30". My work at the time was graphic, bold, and explicit – just like the art that was influencing me. I had a voracious appetite for museums, and was immersing myself in the art of tribal and ancient cultures from all over the world: West Africa, where ritual masks, sculpted idols, and carved instruments matched the primal, evocative rhythms of the region; Central Africa, where the art reflected the animals of the jungle and tribal beliefs in ancestral spirits; aboriginal Australia, where primordial figures of the outback captured my imagination; the American southwest, where vanished tribes of the desert made exquisite paintings on pottery; parts of India, where little storytelling gouache paintings told the stories of ancient Hindu literature; the Arctic, where the stark conditions of the tundra translated into pure simplicity of form; and more.
I hesitate to use the word "primitive," but English seems to lack a better adjective to describe the indigenous, earth-based cultures that nourished my young artist's soul. They all had something in common: they lacked what one Jungian analyst called "the Split" – that is, an intellectual separation from nature. Westerners like myself, he explained, could briefly navigate the depths of the collective unconscious in something like a flimsy newspaper boat – not likely to stay afloat too long – while these primitive folks were part of the ocean itself. In my youthful idealism I envied them. I wanted to live in a place where I could carry a calabash bowl on top of my head (without using my hands), and walk barefoot in red ochre dust. My dreams were filled with ritual fires, spiraling mud that turned into live snakes, and tribal villages nestled into tropical hillsides.
I was also inspired by European artists who were influenced by primitive art. An exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art titled "Primitivism in 20th Century Art" displayed numerous examples of this influence in the art of Picasso, Klee, Matisse, and many other Post-Impressionists. I still have the two-volume exhibition catalogue. Seeing this exhibit helped me understand why I was so drawn to these artists. As I walked in their footsteps, their underlying influences became mine. Eventually I went directly to the source by traveling to West Africa and studying the traditional music and dance of the region. My art became infused with rhythm, evident in the repeating patterns of this painting.
Woman With A Vessel was also influenced by Australian Aboriginal art, which itself was an expression of dreams – or rather, a mythical "Dreamtime," the cornerstone of that culture's traditional spiritual belief system. This concept of a parallel reality fascinated me. I loved the raw textures of Aboriginal art that blended dots together like a painted mosaic, bristling with a mysterious vitality. How could I achieve such an effect? I covered my painting with elongated colored dots, then painted over each area with tightly concentric stripes that partly conceal the dots. In the background that surrounds the figure, the dots are nearly obliterated by the black lines, leaving only a twinkling of the texture beneath it showing. I did not plan this, and remember feeling both hesitant and compelled to nearly destroy the bottom layer. This sort of "undoing" can paradoxically be a crucial part of the creative process. The final effect of one texture over another sets up a vibration. Looking at this painting now, I find myself wanting to play around with this technique again.
The subject itself speaks of fertility, and my intense longing at the time to have children. The woman, penetrated by a snake that issues from her own mind, is impregnated by its spirit, as I wished to be. Thus, both her brain and her womb are vessels. The white outlines maintain contrast among all the fields of color. Oddly, I'm no longer able to employ this white outline technique, though I've tried many times. Somehow I outgrew it . . . at least for now.
Woman With A Vessel sold decades ago and got shipped off to Kentucky, of all places. The buyer fell in love with the image and had to have it. You can order cards or a poster from my webstore (see links below).
A good week to all!
D Yael Bernhard