Conjure: The Story Puppets

Shelley Holzemer Gallery, Minneapolis,Minnesota.

The Wayang Golek Pole Puppets have a strong tradition in Java and Indonesia. Traditionally they are used in plays which run from dusk to dawn, representing scenes from the Hindu Vedas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The characters depict episodes from the texts that teach a moralizing lesson about the battle of good and evil.



This series of paintings include the pole puppets, juxtaposed with traditional Vanitas objects, such as extinguished candles, botanicals, and time pieces, that serve as reminders of the transitory nature of life. The Vanitas is one of the oldest approaches in still life painting. Elements of still life occur in Egyptian tomb paintings, and is used today as a formal exercise and a vehicle for the painter to exercise skill in composition and life-like rendering of detail and texture.



The paintings are all done directly from studio setups. The light is manipulated and the space compact suggesting a "static stage", frozen in time. The final piece in this cycle is the large painting I call "The Alchemist". It depicts a very manipulated space and perspective with a tilted tabletop displaying two supine puppets among other personal objects. Props to be again used in unusual settings and associations evoking a dreamlike atmosphere of magic theatre.
Mary Kline-Misol






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View Galleries by clicking the titles below

Botanical Suite 1XXX Botanical Suite 2XXX Botanical Suite 3XXX

Botanical Suite 4XXX Botanical Suite 5XXX

Down The Rabbit HoleXXX Child AliceXXX

Looking Glass FamilyXXX The StorytellerXXX

The Monarch and the Maids XXX The Four SeasonsXXX

Street ScenesXXX Still Lifes XXX FiguresXXX

Hotel Pattee CommissionsXXX Apotheosis of the BreedsXXX

Women of the WestXXX Street MimesXXX Chicken Act

Corporate and Private CommissionXXX Winterfox

The Spanish Work XXX PuppetsXXX Drawings

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