Gil Perry’s drawings look as if they are depicting dreams. In a way, they are.
http://sentinelsource.com/articles/2011/01/06/entertainment/news/free/id_423431.txt
Local artist’s work is the stuff of dreams
“Ancestors” by artist Gil Perry is one of the drawings on exhibit in Bellows Falls through Jan. 21.
By NICOLE S. COLSON
Sentinel Staff
Published: Thursday, January 06, 2011
Gil Perry’s drawings look as if they are depicting dreams.
In a way, they are.
An exhibition of his work, “Figments — Drawings of the Imagination,” is on display through Friday, Jan. 21, at Works on Paper at 7 The Square in Bellows Falls. Works on Paper is a paper conservation studio that recently began hosting exhibits of artists’ work.
Perry, who lives in Springfield, Vt., with his wife, sculptor Mary Eldredge, said this is the most comprehensive showing of his layered graphite and ink on paper drawings. It includes his work from the past 20 years.
Although he displays his work at Powers Gallery in Acton, Mass., Perry said the bulk of his work is landscape painting, which he has also done for the past 20 years.
Before that, he started out drawing. His technique then involved starting in the top left corner of the paper and working across, letting images emerge from layers of graphite.
In art school in the ’70s, he would draw for 18 hours a day. “I would find myself going into a meditation,” he said. “Time would disappear after awhile and my breathing would become quiet.”
He said when he was drawing in what he calls a mystical state, he began to see certain recurring images emerge from his intuition — ones with which he wasn’t familiar. “I wasn’t taking a vase of flowers and transferring that image from objective to subjective reality — it was more letting my unconscious speak to me,” he said.
At first, he didn’t know what these images meant, but as he continued to draw in this meditative state, he said he began to think about art as a revelation. “I thought of art not only as a process revealing an image but as revealing something to me about own inner life,” he said. When he looks at his drawings, he said they would never have been created from his conscious mind.
Although he still does what he calls “visionary” work at night when he can’t paint landscapes, Perry continues to experiment with his drawing. He sometimes uses natural objects — bird’s nests, driftwood, stones — to leave patterns on the paper and give him a springboard for his imagination. He also incorporates more techniques, for instance, using an eraser to take away some of the layers of his drawing and create an image in negative space it leaves behind. “It gives my unconscious something to work with rather than a piece of paper,” he said.
A collector bought some of Perry’s early drawings and later donated them to the Boston Public Library. One of his drawings, titled “Metamorphosis,” was featured in Drawing Magazine in 2004.
To find these images within, Perry said it’s all about letting go. “I realize there’s a certain level of fear but there has to be a certain amount of faith in the process,” he said. “I know something will emerge — even if I don’t know what it will be.”
Gil Perry’s show, “Figments — Drawings of the Imagination,” will be on display at Works on Paper through Friday, Jan. 21, when there will be a closing reception with the artist at the studio from 5 to 8 p.m. For more information, call 802-460-1149.
To see Perry’s drawings, go online to visionaryartgallery.weebly. com/gil-perry.html
“Ancestors” by artist Gil Perry is one of the drawings on exhibit in Bellows Falls through Jan. 21.
By NICOLE S. COLSON
Sentinel Staff
Published: Thursday, January 06, 2011
Gil Perry’s drawings look as if they are depicting dreams.
In a way, they are.
An exhibition of his work, “Figments — Drawings of the Imagination,” is on display through Friday, Jan. 21, at Works on Paper at 7 The Square in Bellows Falls. Works on Paper is a paper conservation studio that recently began hosting exhibits of artists’ work.
Perry, who lives in Springfield, Vt., with his wife, sculptor Mary Eldredge, said this is the most comprehensive showing of his layered graphite and ink on paper drawings. It includes his work from the past 20 years.
Although he displays his work at Powers Gallery in Acton, Mass., Perry said the bulk of his work is landscape painting, which he has also done for the past 20 years.
Before that, he started out drawing. His technique then involved starting in the top left corner of the paper and working across, letting images emerge from layers of graphite.
In art school in the ’70s, he would draw for 18 hours a day. “I would find myself going into a meditation,” he said. “Time would disappear after awhile and my breathing would become quiet.”
He said when he was drawing in what he calls a mystical state, he began to see certain recurring images emerge from his intuition — ones with which he wasn’t familiar. “I wasn’t taking a vase of flowers and transferring that image from objective to subjective reality — it was more letting my unconscious speak to me,” he said.
At first, he didn’t know what these images meant, but as he continued to draw in this meditative state, he said he began to think about art as a revelation. “I thought of art not only as a process revealing an image but as revealing something to me about own inner life,” he said. When he looks at his drawings, he said they would never have been created from his conscious mind.
Although he still does what he calls “visionary” work at night when he can’t paint landscapes, Perry continues to experiment with his drawing. He sometimes uses natural objects — bird’s nests, driftwood, stones — to leave patterns on the paper and give him a springboard for his imagination. He also incorporates more techniques, for instance, using an eraser to take away some of the layers of his drawing and create an image in negative space it leaves behind. “It gives my unconscious something to work with rather than a piece of paper,” he said.
A collector bought some of Perry’s early drawings and later donated them to the Boston Public Library. One of his drawings, titled “Metamorphosis,” was featured in Drawing Magazine in 2004.
To find these images within, Perry said it’s all about letting go. “I realize there’s a certain level of fear but there has to be a certain amount of faith in the process,” he said. “I know something will emerge — even if I don’t know what it will be.”
Gil Perry’s show, “Figments — Drawings of the Imagination,” will be on display at Works on Paper through Friday, Jan. 21, when there will be a closing reception with the artist at the studio from 5 to 8 p.m. For more information, call 802-460-1149.
To see Perry’s drawings, go online to visionaryartgallery.weebly. com/gil-perry.html
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