After a long and dreary year, summer is finally on the horizon! With this, ZINC Contemporary gallery in Pioneer Square has put on another lovely show which basks viewers in a “Color Cure” and lifts the spirits of every visitor. The group show features six incredible woman artists and showcases the power of color in any composition. “Color Cure” will be up until June 26, but for those unable to see it in person, here is an artistic analysis of the works being displayed!
Bend, Oregon artist Sarah More’s contribution to the show is one full of clean lines balanced by a wild variety of geometric shapes and colors. Her 2015 piece, “The Ballad of Sadie Rose,” features a steady pattern of different colored squares. She begins in one corner of the page and works her way across, impressively without the aid of tape! This piece is consistent and simple in comparison to her more recent piece, “Red Rhapsody (Love Sick)” (2017). Sarah’s artistic development shines through in this painting, which showcases her meticulous craftsmanship. The shapes decrease in size as the eye is drawn toward the middle of the composition, creating something of a spiral effect.
Alayne Spafford’s and Conny Goelz Schmitt’s works often get confused for one another; they both feature a collage-like composition of colorful materials, varying from old book pages to painted paper to fabric to maps. However, the differences in these works are what make them so wonderful! Alayne’s large paintings use slightly curved lines to lead the viewer’s eye toward the center of the piece. In her 2021 painting, “Wanderer,” Alayne paints an arch of warm, muted colors in the top right-hand corner, which frames the composition and eases the viewer into the sharper edges and cooler colors in the middle. While Alayne’s pieces seem to guide the eye to the center, Conny’s do just the opposite: the centers of her works lie almost dormant, which charges the outer ring with colorful energy. In her piece, “From The Edge Of The World” (2021), reds and greens complement each other across the muted center, inviting the viewer to explore the “Edge” of the work and find beauty in that space.
Geometric shapes and prismatic colors work together in Barbara Robertson’s works. Each of the cube-like figures in Barbara’s paintings seem to exist in their own space, each illustrating different dimensions and proportions. Yet, these shapes are overlapping and framing one another and casting shadows into each other’s spaces. In “Abstract 8” (2020), shades of red, yellow, and green interact against a dominantly violet backdrop. The opaque nature of these colors make the shapes feel 2-dimensional, while the painted edges and corners imply that they are not. This tension that Barbara’s paintings convey invites the viewer to contemplate both relationship and individuality, as the shapes and colors exist in both of these states.
Martina Nehrling’s works in the “Color Cure” are juicy and texture-rich explorations of line and color. Repeated lines of thick acrylic paint dance across the canvas and drip toward the bottom of the composition. The line as an element of art feels like an exhaustible resource at first, but Martina proves this to be wrong. In her 2021 piece, “Pinch,” Martina’s colorful lines stack on top of one another in a visible “pinching” shape! The visual weight lies at the top and the bottom of the painting, which guides the viewer to contemplate the more muted colors being pinched in the center.
Finally, Laura Berman shares her mono print mastery with the gallery. These works of ink seem to be alive, some growing and blooming in color while others overlap and alter one another. In “Wonders 32” (2021), Laura places a full rainbow of abstract, organic shapes against each other in a way that allows them to sprout from the bottom and reach toward the outer edges of the frame. The way these colors overlap allows for the creation of even more new colors! “Wonders 31” (2021) is similar in that the shapes are rooted in the bottom of the composition and blooming out towards the edges, almost like a bundle of balloons ready to fly away. In her 2021 print, “Gem L6,” Laura’s shapes exist in a bubble of colors. Interacting in a similar way to the previous pieces mentioned, these rounder elements seem to bounce off of one another without ever leaving the boundaries of their own context.
Color signals the presence of light, and after living through what might have been the darkest year for any given person, a showcase of color is a refreshing and necessary way to celebrate a new chapter! Different perceptions and relationships of color are present at ZINC, all displaying intriguing explorations of the artistic element. Get out, enjoy the sunshine, and soak up the “Color Cure”!