Paintings 2014

In 2014, Fred and I experienced several profound losses. As usual, Fred painted through them. He began incorporating more photographs into his creative process, deliberately blurring images to see what essential features, shapes and colors emerged (much to the dismay of those of us with simpler needs, like a nice shot of the Christmas tree).

Always fascinated by the human figure, Fred began most of these paintings with a figure outlined in acrylic on the canvas. In some of these works, such as "Solstice" or "Weakly Reader," the outlined figure is obvious. In others, such as "Maternal Presence," the figure remains, but is less clear, buried more deeply in layers of paint. 

Fred's mother, who died in 1992 at age 51, hovers in the background of "Maternal Presence" - not surprising, as it was completed during a four-month period in which we lost two members of our immediate family. Reminded of his mother throughout the year, Fred said the painting gave him the feeling of being watched -- monitored, but also loved.  

In a year when not much seemed to make sense, these paintings helped us see what may have escaped our field of vision. One of my personal favorites, "Cellular Process," is perhaps the best example. The painting explores wholly "what lies beneath" in our bodies: the work of the ribosomes, mitochondria, proteins: cell division, life within life. "While I was painting this, I kept seeing those wonderful drawings from high school biology. I thought about how these processes goes on inside the bodies I paint all the time, whether we want them to or not. And thank goodness they do." (Click here to see the images Fred was thinking about.) 

We've both been grateful at how many things this year kept us going, from our shaken but not quite broken faith to those who have watched over us to those tiny ribosomes, tearing at our RNA strands, whether we like it or not, until something new bursts forth.

Jami Moss Wise