Abstraction gets specific in Susie Wind show at Fountainhead
Susie Wind never planned to be an artist.
When she lost her enthusiasm for the chemistry and physics she was studying in college, her father didn't want her to drop out, so enrolled her in art courses. At first she thought she was being punished for not living up to expectations. She quickly discovered, however, that she liked art, and in 1994 received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing from the University of Utah.
The exhibition of her work currently at Fountainhead Gallery reveals a bit of that past. You can see it in the way Wind incorporates the proportions and ratios learned about in physics and chemistry to the paint and her subjects. You see it also in the sun-dried Utah landscapes behind many of her subjects
She paints the industrial detritus of our lives, the things that once built our society but are now tossed aside: rusted vehicles, engines, machinery. These are the emblems of an economy of excess, one in which we are removed from the sources of our own industrial might and have the wealth to abandon what in other societies would be carefully repaired, rebuilt and reused.
The images draw the viewer in. You have to look carefully to determine exactly what they are because Wind never offers the whole thing. Instead you see a piece of a decrepit sign, a fraction of the abandoned railroad car, one part of the machinery that moves the steam locomotive.
Using bold shapes and colors, she creates images that, on some of her canvases, at first view have an abstract quality. You know it's something familiar, but you just can't tell exactly what it is. Wind has provided for her viewers "Ah ha!" moments when suddenly the image becomes clear. It's not abstract at all, you think, as the twisted piping of the boiler or the distressed industrial doors snap into focus.
One particularly arresting work depicts a corner of an abandoned railroad car. Its canvas covering is tied down as if to protect a valuable cargo. But you know there's nothing to protect, that the car has been left to deteriorate on the salt flats that can be seen in the background.
Wind, who lives on the Eastside, moved from Utah to the Northwest 10 years ago. Since then she has incorporated scenes from this region within her work. In one commanding painting, the hull of a ship rises above the glimmering sea, allowing the viewer no insight into what kind of ship it might be, providing only a sense of its enormity. It reminded me of Richard Serra's "Wake" at the new Olympic Sculpture Park.
She also is displaying works depicting a number of deteriorating painted and neon signs. Those who know this region well will be able to identify the originals and know where they are found. Some have the grimy, worn quality reminiscent of paintings from the 1930s by artists like Hopper.
In capturing these time-weathered objects, Wind believes that she has also captured that age of America's past that made all things modern possible. The paintings speak to the dreams of the past and the waste of today.
An ancillary exhibit of landscapes is on view on the second floor of Fountainhead. These have been selected from among the works of the 10 or 12 landscape painters whom the gallery represents.
The Fountainhead Gallery is celebrating its 11th year on Queen Anne. When owners Ron and Sue Peterson established the business, they featured Ron's cabinetry as they established their relationship with the artists whom they represent. All too soon, the focus shifted to their artists. But you can still see examples of Ron's cabinetry in the lovely staircase, furniture, doors and windows of the gallery.
'SIGNS OF LIFE' by Susie Wind
The Fountainhead Gallery, 625 W. McGraw St.
Through Sept. 30
Thursday-Friday 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday-Sunday noon-5 p.m. and by appointment
285-4467 or mail@fountainheadgallery.com
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