2009-2010 Exhibition Season

Massachusetts artist Jennifer O'Connell's work presents scenes of rooms in her colonial home in Hadley, Mass. Rather than depicting these intimate spaces in natural color, the rooms and furnishings are highly saturated – a rich visual symphony where colors are wrought with emotion. “These scenes are inspired by what the mind conjures, (where) perception is influenced by contemplation,” shared O'Connell. Through the color saturation one begins to ponder the emotional state of the artist during the time each painting was executed. This contemplation is reinforced by the sense and evidence of habitation, without actually seeing any people. “Despite the vacancy, there is the feeling that the room has been frozen in the midst of action, and the occupants have simply vanished from view,” said Gerard Lange, director of exhibitions of the Barton Art Galleries. “There is a sense of life and activity, but the scene appears to be a moment in which the artist's mind may have begun to wander.”

As rooms are presented repeatedly, one can witness changes in decorating and, therein, the passage of time becomes apparent. “As I paint in my home, I am witness to everyday changes which reveal stories,” O'Connell continued. Completed over the span of days and weeks, the compositions reflect natural changes occurring daily. Objects in the paintings appear to have been touched and moved, yet the person responsible is absent. In her working and reworking of the scene, O'Connell's rooms cease to be mere domestic genre and start to live and breathe of their own accord. In theses paintings, she transforms the images of her unoccupied private spaces into a self-portrait, where not only her life but the act of living is placed on display.

Jennifer O’Connell earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing from the University of New Hampshire and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from SUNY Plattsburgh. Additionally, she studied fine art at the University College Chester in England. She has received numerous awards, grants and fellowships, has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is represented by Adam Cave Fine Art in Raleigh, Left Bank Gallery in Wellfleet, Mass., and Oxbow Gallery in Northampton, Mass.

"Clay is a universal medium: potters' vessels have formed an essential part of material culture, Gordon says. "Often, in the vessels, Greek or Chinese forms seem to be echoed in my clay shapes." Works presented range from more traditional smooth-surfaced vessels to composite, coagulate encrusted versions. In these latter pieces the surfaces retain a comfortable tension somewhere between chaos and structure. Their forms resemble things one might find in nature, but on the molecular level.

Gordon's inspiration is often derived from an eclectic mix of nature and plant growth, animal skeletons, machinery, scrap yards and through travel. He sees his artwork as a melding of idea and action, of inspiration and impulse. "I approach claywork as the creation, pulling form out of inchoate matter, as an ongoing experiment in seeking new direction through variation," says Gordon. "The physicality of clay, along with its remarkable ability to freeze action and respond to physical impact or retain any fleeting impression, immediately and permanently captured my interest."

In contrast to the vessels, Gordon's installation's in the Lula E. Rackley gallery refer to architecture and industrialization. These works, to Gordon, represent fragments, combined geometries and biomorphic musings. "Geometry, being a form of math, has always served as a universal language for sculpture," says Gerard Lange, Director of Exhibitions at Barton. "Gordon's use of these pure forms has placed the work in a global context, where many interpretations can be draw by evaluating the sculptures from different cultural points of view. Influence of his time spent abroad is clearly evident in Gordon's complex manipulation and integration of these otherwise simple forms."