"I love the landscape of the Cape; it comes in and goes out in my work like the water, a swelling and repetitive movement with variations, as in music."
Untitled, 2013, oil on wood panel, 22 x 18 inches
About the work
My work is abstract, but some of my inspiration derives from the light, color and urban landscape I see framed through my studio window and from what I remember and see of nature. I love the landscape of the Cape; it comes in and goes out in my work like the water, a swelling and repetitive movement with variations, as in music. The sag in the paintings, evoking waves, gravity and the body, creates another rhythm between the curved and the straight, although my lines are never really straight. I want evidence of the hand, and sometimes the quaver of a tremor, too. I often prime the wood before painting in a way that even more texture will emerge as I brush across the surface. I am not sure exactly what will come up in the under layers. I react to whatever happens there, including the color and pattern of the wood. An element of chance is crucial. The work combines elements of the rational and irrational, the gestural and the geometric. The repetitive and deliberate gesture in these paintings is intuitive, but carefully considered – conscious and unconscious. When I am painting I try to get to that place where they are the same, no split. The conversation between me and the painting can slow down or speed up, stay simple or get more complicated. It can be quiet and meditative or get a little looser and veer off in another direction. I don’t want to resolve every painting the same way. I am looking for moments when something new comes up, like shape or a certain light. I take my time about where to make the marks, and how to make them, and I often go back and back – adding and subtracting with brushes and rags. I’m working things out non-verbally, mentally and physically, making marks in this abstract language. I hope the viewer can give me the time to be there with me as I do.
Untitled, 2013, oil on wood panel, 26 x 22 inches
Untitled, 2013, oil on wood panel, 22 x 18 inches
Reflecting on Cape Cod
My family moved to the Boston area from the South
when I was 5 years old. My parents had grown up in the Bronx, city kids, and
moved to Chicago after the War where I was born in the 50s. After a couple of
years in Chattanooga we moved to Newton, Mass., and they discovered the Cape.
For them I think it was a dream, a place they could not have imagined for
themselves growing up as they did. The Cape became our destination of choice
every year, particularly Wellfleet. There were the bookstores, the library, concerts
in the church and square dancing on the pier as well as the peacefulness and
beauty of the dunes, ponds and beaches of the National Seashore. For me the
Cape is the place I most love and long for. I soak up its beauty both modest
and magnificent and carry it home to New YTork City, a private treasure. My
work is influenced mysteriously, and directly - the water, the sky, the shore,
the striations and horizon, the shifting light, reflections and color, all are
in the work.
Untitled, 2013, oil on wood panel, 26 x 22 inches
Untitled, 2013, oil on wood panel. 24 x 20 inches
Untitled, 2014, oil on wood panel, 24 x 20 inches
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Untitled, 2013, oil on wood panel, 22 x 20 inches
www.emilyberger.net
