Black, White and Gray...

...when I was looking for some colour! 

It was one of those cold, dark and dreary days when you just want to curl up indoors and read..everything outside was overcast, wet, and gray. I felt that I needed a little perk-me-up - something that did not involve a lot of effort but would get me out of the house even for a short time.  I needed some colour - and where else to get colour? An art gallery! The Station Gallery is just down the street from me and would probably not be a busy place in these days of COVID...probably no courses or workshops going on ..

I was right. it was not busy...I was their only visitor! Perfect! Well, not really. It was wonderful to have the place to myself but...the whole exhibit was in mono! Black, white and gray! Not an iota of colour! Who would have thought? 

It was an interesting exhibit though..something a little different..titled Microcosms/Macrocosms by Marie-Josee Thomas a printmaker from Quebec. From what I could see, she had made small rubbings on various surfaces using carbon paper and polyester film and then enlarged the images 10x for this particular exhibit. The originals were exhibited on the installation table in the above photo and the enlargements were hung  on the walls of the gallery. 

I must admit I didn't really understand what I was seeing..how it was art..I was puzzled  - and puzzled enough to go home, and search the internet for more information and voila! I found a video of a walk-through the exhibit with the artist!  Her explanation of the technique and what motivated her made all the difference to me...

She explained how she starts the rubbing very lightly using her finger to catch the highlights of the texture and then manipulates it by applying more pressure with various burnishers as well as a stylus to emphasize lines and various parts of the image .. She says it is like the texture of the surface is talking to her..The resultant images in the exhibit were intriguing and unique..each different ..some geographical resembling landscapes, others like images you would see under a microscope. The images are a combination of the original texture of the surface and her artistic input. 

So..although I did not find colour, and at first was somewhat disappointed in the exhibit, I learned a lesson. If I don't understand, find out...My visit was certainly enriched by that video and "meeting" the artist.