Barbara Boeck
“Is art trending toward a more sober, timeless and elegant aesthetic than the red-hot excitement and eccentricity of the contemporary art scene in recent years?”
— Sandra Botnen, curator
Day 27 introduces artist Barbara Boeck. As we close in on the end of this exploration of 30 Artists in 30 Days, Barbara Boeck incorporates many of the themes that have been touched on, most predominantly her use of textiles, and her meditations on nature. But she doesn't stop there, Boeck's art practice is divergent to say the least.
Visiting her studio in Redding, CT, I witness her in the throes of repurposing an old piano into various sculptural pieces. The old harp from the piano stands outside her window as a kind of garden sculpture mobile, and she is excited to show me her old metal mailbox that was flattened after being hit by a car, which she has now made into a two-dimensional sculpture called “Redding Roadkill”.
At the core of her art are meticulously rendered drawings. For over 30 years she used this skill to run a design business with her late husband. Her illustrative designs were carved and etched into glass to make functional, custom-made interior glass installations. Today, unbound by the demands of her old business, her creativity is devoted to its own reinvention, while seeking guidance from the nature that surrounds her home and studio. She speaks of tree journeys where she finds particular trees that single handedly seem to narrate the marvels of life. She is currently working with five particular trees, “but I will probably have to expand the series to seven because I am finding some more amazing “Old Souls””, as she likes to call her tree subjects.
Her artwork is mixed-media set on her signature matte black backgrounds. I see qualities of her glass carving carried over to her new work in the way she adds a slight relief; carving and layering her art pieces to give the bark of her trees a subtle, and realistic bark-like texture.
“Defying the Odds” is the title of her most recently completed work in the series of tall, narrow tree images. At its base, this tree flattens and laterally squeezes through seemingly impenetrable rockery, finding its way to the light, at which point the tree returns to its naturally shaped trunk and carries onward and upward to new heights. Perhaps, this tree is autobiographical, in that having endured the sudden loss of her husband and business partner, Barbara Boeck left her old life behind and moved east where she found a new life and her new husband.
She says she is still redefining herself as an artist, moving beyond illustrations and looking from many angles at her own voice as an artist. In addition to her tree series, she creates interesting fiber art which originally attracted me to her work. Using pastels on raw canvas, she draws floral motifs, then contours the leaves and petals by shredding the canvas down to its fibers, to then manipulate in various ways. Again, the effect adds textured relief to her work that speaks of roots and veins connecting to an underworld network of nutrients and nourishment.
2020 was the culmination of some difficult times where many people turned inward and many artists saliently turned to nature for comfort, guidance and even leadership. While spirituality has always been a theme in art, I am beginning to wonder if today’s working artist is in the process of creating a collective body of work that serves to remind us of our roles and responsibilities on earth. Is art trending toward a more sober, timeless and elegant aesthetic than the red-hot excitement and eccentricity of the contemporary art scene in recent years? Checkout this Jan 6th Artsy article by Shannon Lee, Trends to watch in 2021: Return to Nature.
Avaliable Works
coming soon…