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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2004)
BY SYLVIE PEDERSON Drawn to the Face Painter Kris Ibach’s work T ogether, the recent works of painters Kris Ibach and Claudia Cilloniz Marchini form contrapuntal odes to the human face and the intensity of human emotion and experience. Their work shows at the Jacobs Gallery through Sept. 2. PART I: KRIS IBACH Ibach’s preferred subject-matter when she did photography was the human face. Faithful portraits, however, are not what her large oils are about. She may begin with live models or photographs, but they are merely points of departure. She uses them “just to get the basic gesture,” Ibach explained. “The paintings are not about anybody in particular. … I keep try- ing for certain feelings of intensity, focusing on the face and the eyes,” she said. Ibach’s palette contributes its own intensi- ty, as does her use of chiaroscuro. Blacks and reds contrast with flesh tones and yellows. Her blacks are luminous and gleam as if still wet, which makes them appear even darker, yet fresh. Ibach uses the glazing technique favored by the old masters. Rather than mixing colors on a palette, she applies layer after transpar- ent layer to obtain different tones. What we perceive as black is the result of careful mul- tiple transparent layering which allows light to go through to the white canvas and back again, adding further luminosity to the reflec- tive glaze medium. Contrasting with the sity — an intensity kept in check even as it is dramatized in her subjects’ gaze and facial expression. “The people who really live life and observe it are like that,” Ibach said. “It’s the not being fearful, that contained pride in depth provided by successive transparent lay- being who you are, in doing what you do, I see that in certain people, I just see it in them, ers, opaque red accents stand forward toward and it’s very beautiful to me.” the viewer. Unlike the old masters, Ibach keeps her Slight facial distortions and misalign- ments contribute to the expressiveness of vigorous brushstrokes visible to provide tex- Ibach’s figures. Strabismus and asymmetry ture and movement. She also never erases of the eyes recurs often. what she decides to change, One eye is lower or farther and these previous marks from the nose than the add texture by showing other, less detailed or not through further applica- reflecting light in the same tions of paint. Ibach likened way. the glazing process to “a Though perceptible, series of veils laid over one another” that contribute to these distortions remain subtle enough or are han- the sense of mystery she dled just right to result in a seeks to convey. double, paradoxical effect. Ibach, who started On the one hand, they pro- painting four years ago and duce a sense of strangeness graduated this year from (Unheimlichkeit) that unset- UO, learned her glazing technique from Adam tles our expectations and rivets our attention. On the Grosowsky, painter and other, the distortions make LCC instructor. Grosowsky her characters more real, also influenced Ibach in alive, stronger and more terms of palette and com- intense. They add personal- position, and they share a ity and drama, and oddly, a predilection for the human sense of truth captured and face. Yet despite striking revealed but not explained, similarities of approach, a truth made visible for us to Ibach’s paintings remain her own. see, feel and puzzle out as well. She brings to her work In Woman with Flowers, mood and contained inten- Girl with Cat, oil painting by Kris Ibach a striking painting dominated by blacks, reds, gold and white with a yellow accent, the sub- ject squints a little, and her left eye is slightly misaligned. Yet we don’t perceive it as a weakness. Instead we are confronted by the force of her personality and expression. She knows who she is and flaunts it, yet she remains an enigma that challenges us. Ironic clues, such as the suggestion of an icon-like halo, reinforce the mystery. “I always need something a little off to pique my interest,” Ibach said. “When I come across someone with a marker that sets them apart, something a little off, I find it more attractive.” Other paintings project a serene, reflec- tive mood, such as the lovely Girl with Blue Dress, or Interior 1 and 2. The latter two, Ibach said, came from her memory. They exemplify an approach in which she works more intuitively, responding to a definite mood in herself as she paints. Ibach also does tiny, intimate portraits. Her Guys I Know are detailed and vivid, while her Head & Shoulders Series has a more suggestive quality. For her landscapes, Ibach resorts to most- ly black-and-white monotypes printed from Plexiglas plates, created from memory. Ibach grew up in Eugene and her rural Oregon landscapes are brooding, wintry, atmospher- ic, marked by the presence of water from rivers, ocean and rain. Although Ibach started painting recently, her mature, striking voice resonates with original strength. Don’t miss her work. Part II of this review featuring Marchini’s work will appear next week. ew 5 Annual th Fun & Friendly After School Childcare Fun with Friends Cooking Homework Club Group games Sports and gym Science Crafts Music Jani Hoberg Show “ITALIAN REFLECTIONS” August through September La Follette off Broadway September 3, 2004 • Reception: 5:30-8:30pm GALLERY & FRAMING Monday-Friday 10am-6pm Saturday 10am-5pm La Follette off Broadway 931 oak street Eugene, Or 97401 541 . 484 . 1420 Special Events Field trips and more... LOCATIONS: 4J PRIVATE Adams/Hillside Cesar Chavez Edison Harris Magnet Arts McCornack Meadow lark Buena Vista Parker/Eastside Willagillespie O’Hara Catholic School CHARTER Village School Ridgeline Montessori BETHEL Meadow View Prairie Mountain Eugene Creative Care Details: CALL 683-7291 AUGUST 19, 2004 23
