The Local Line
April 30 - June 1, 2006

The word “line” has many meanings, from a short written note to a string with a hook on it, to a selection of designer clothing.

The same is true in the visual arts.  A “line” is the most basic element that indicates a division of space or delineates the outer edges of a form. An artist's “line” is very personal, showing much about the way it was drawn—from large and expansive gestures to tightly controlled movements. Even the materials chosen to depict the line influence its expression.

The Local Line is comprised of the works of four artists for whom “line” is essential: Eva Lee, Dorothy Powers, Suzan Shutan and Eve Stockton.  Each of the artists featured lives and works within 25 miles of Sacred Heart University's Gallery of Contemporary Art and each focuses on various kinds of “lines” to depict both their work and the world.

This doesn't mean that these artists eschew form, or that they use line to the exclusion of other artistic tools such as color or value.  However, their utilization of “line” is primary to their work. Each artist has a unique “line” that is used to achieve very different aesthetics and artistic goals.

The use of “line” can be observed in the majestic landscapes of Eve Stockton, Suzan Shutan's microscopic viruses, the balls of string that fascinate Dorothy Powers and the natural evolution of dots and lines that seem to grow into complex shapes in the work of Eve Lee. All are related by their differing use of organic lines.

Stockton is fascinated with the forms that exist in nature, and she has explored this interest in many different mediums.  The woodblocks in this exhibit enable her to translate natural woodland scenes into complex lines that allow us to fill in the missing details from the memories of landscapes we have seen.  Providing evocations of our collective consciousness of dusk in a forest, these works seem to provide the minimal information we need to remember what it feels like to be surrounded by overlapping tree branches and the gentle sounds of the forest.

Lee's quest is focused on science and its limitations.  She says she is “inspired by nature's scale, from the mind-boggling smallness of subatomic particles to the inconceivable immensity of an expanding universe.” Her expressive works, drawn with white ink on black paper, evoke a vast expanse of space as each mark develops into shapes that bend as if they are avoiding something in the darkness that we cannot see.

Shutan's works also began with an interest in science. She became intrigued with the shapes presented by the AIDs virus when it began affecting her circle of friends.  In her research, she discovered that this devastating disease had a beautiful form.  Through exploring other virus shapes—drawing them on walls and on vellum, or using lines of string of “draw” her forms—she presents the dichotomy of a simple shape that causes such devastation to humanity.

For Dorothy Powers the “line” is the focus. Her interest is in the drawing itself, as an exercise in the manipulation of lines. She has created exquisite drawings depicting balls of string, lines that twist and turn to create shapes. She has taken these drawings and used copy machines to gradually increase their size until the lines themselves have, with the intervention of technology, take on a completely different character.

From the most basic artistic element, these artists use “line” to create evocative and engaging works that stretch the definition of the element and provide an intriguing view into how artists use the same starting point to arrive at dramatically different destinations.

Sophia Gevas
Director