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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2000)
Whether it is paint splashed across canvas or something more definitive, abstract art holds personal meaning for local artists warn s vsmBBi m-nm wHmm sanmHm By Yael Menahem Oregon Daily Emerald The definition of abstract art can be as abstract as the art it self. fgjf “PutftingJ things together in a different way,” is artist Rakar West’s simple definition of the art form. West is part of a local group of artists who are exhibiting HI their current works in the Springfield Museum under the name Women Artists’ Marketing Cooperative, or WAMCO. The exhibit is part of the museum’s series “Moving Forward: HI Art for the 21st Century. ” WAMCO is made up of abstract artists Pat Arrera, Ruth Ann Howden, Natalie Shifrin Whitson and West. West discovered abstract art many years ago on a trip to New York City where she visited the Museum of Modem Art and mm read about the movement in several art books. “I responded emotionally and physically [to the art],” West says. “I felt like this was something that I wanted to do. ” Through her art, which mainly involves landscapes from across Oregon, West is trying to emulate the definition of the art through her own interpretation. “I’m trying to paint something that you really can’t see, like relationships, changing weather, emotional needs of people [or] moving water,” she says. Throughout her work, West uses different materials such as acrylic on a hard board and some metal parts. For instance, on two separate pieces currently on display, she bolted down alu minum strips to the hard board and then painted on the metal. Her works should look familiar to Oregonians, who will rec ognize her references to Crater Lake and coastal sand dunes. “I love Oregon so much and there’s such varied landscape,” West says, although she admits that a recent trip to Scotland is conjuring up new images for future abstract pieces. Each of the four artists in the show holds a fine arts degree and also draws upon their varied life experiences from all around the world. Arrera lived on the South Pacific island of American Samoa for several years, and her experiences of living by the jungle comes through in her work. She uses more traditional materi als such as oil paintings on canvas to express her art. Arrera I ... '...V ‘ -_] says that abstract art is a challenge, which is why she’s attracted to the style. “It’s a way to express what I want to do in a way that works for me,” she says. “It’s more difficult to do that with realistic images.” To Arrera, realistic images are photographs and other still images that don’t involve the stroke of a brush, but she wants to take things a step further. “If I want to express something else, something beyond what a [re alistic] image tells me, I go to ab stract art,” she says. The abstract style was introduced to the art world a few decades ago, West says, and it uses shapes that are not necessarily recognizable in nature. Many people may not know about abstract art, and West be lieves that a new art form is not al ways automatically accepted. “It takes an art media decades to be accepted or to influence the art world and for people to understand it and get used to seeing it,” she said. The WAMCO art-ists have exhib ited their work locally, nationally and internationally in an attempt to enlighten more people about the art style. Arrera and West encourage other art enthusiasts to visit the Springfield Museum to experience this art form as they experience and promote it. The Springfield Museum is located on the corner of Sixth and Main streets. The show is currently open and runs through Jan. 29. The museum hours are Tuesday through Fri day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. Artwork on display is also for sale. (above) Pat Arrera’s “jungle Dance IF’ is an oil paint ing on birch, (below) Rakar West’s “Steens Mountain- ft Afvord Desert” is acrylic paint on aluminum, mount ed on masonite. Both pieces and others can be Come in out ram 1008216 John Henry's Dance Nights no cover for women!! 136 E. 11th, Eugene ys:ii pm That Tuesday -soulful, funky dance grooves with d.j.s Lit Gene 342-3358 IOI techno, junyle, hip-hop brinjyo’dancin’shoes Thursdays: io pm 80s Dance Ni^t - a time capsule of 80 s vinyl O O °o 21 and over Ca!w8«Ji New Film Fest _ Eugene Weekly January 20^11^ Nightly 4:45, 7:00 & 9:15p,n Sun Mat J:30pm Soon: EARTH and LAST NIGHT. read their favorite “beat" poetry at 6:0®pml! Nightly 5:10 and 7:15pm - Sun Mat 3pmU American Beauty 11:10pm Sat Mat IB 2:45pm BEING JOHN MflLKOVICH 9:00pm only MUST END JAN 20th
