| Arlene Shechet, Mind Field Series (1997), an ongoing series of monoprints consisting of papermaking pigment squeezed through acetate stencils onto handmade abaca paper. The prints measure 30x30 in. or 24x24 in. and were made at Dieu Donné Studio, New York. Centrally-planned Buddhist temples are the inspiration for these monoprints, their compositions created by squeezing blue pigment pulp through stencils onto translucent abaca paper, very like silk, that gives a special vibrancy to the color, Shechet cultivates irregularities by rotating the stencils or using more than one so that the floorplans are anything but accurate. Nonetheless, they are named for the temples, and the sense for the particular building’s design is always present. Often concentric bands of repeating arches, columns and other forms, the design begins to look like mandalas. Shechet is mainly a sculpture, and in her busts of Buddha creates brightly colored skins by layin gpaint onto sheets of plastic, peeling it form the surface, and pressing it into wet plaster surface of the head. Such and engagement with process pertinent to the creation of the Mind Field Series, as well. They fairly glow with inner life. Price $800 for the smaller and $1,100 for the larger work. Available in Boston at Bernard Toale Gallery. |