Claudia Mengel with her painting, New Beginnings
Sheffer Gallery
December 14, 2024, through February 4, 2025
Reception: Wednesday, December 18, 6-8 pm, in the Trefz Forum; click here for more information.
(Reception kicks off at 6 pm, followed by a conversation between Mengel and Miggs Burroughs at 7 pm.)
Despite its intended goal of turning common metal into gold, a mystical aspect of alchemy was at the heart of its expression in the Middle Ages. It was thus associated not only with chemical experimentation, but also with the spiritual belief in ultimate transformation.
Viewing these canvases, one can almost feel that transformation, thanks to Mengel’s playful experimentation with paint and her soulful combination of interior ideas and experiences. In creating these pieces, the artist turned from her earlier, actively dynamic gestural style to slow the pace of her brushstrokes in order to achieve a greater intimacy. As the poet condenses language to reveal the unwritten theme and finds unity in rhythm and verse, Mengel reflects upon the natural world, whose patterns depict the seen and the unseen, and transcribes them onto a unified canvas. There, the marks of blue, green, pink, red, and yellow are combined to give each a heightened intensity, reflecting a sense of light throughout. The washes of pastels, the layering of impasto, and the occasional collage all help to physically create and capture light not only on the surface, but also in the eye of the beholder. Their patterns and textures create relationships that bring an energy — and perhaps even a magic — to the narrative they impart.
In addition to the dialogue within each work, however, there is also an important relationship among them as a group. The artist’s first painting went on to influence the next, and so it continued, one canvas at a time. Like children in a family, they are related to each other — born of the same mother — yet have different personalities and speak in different voices.
Thus, in viewing these pieces, one is invited to lend one’s own voice to this broader dialogue, by reacting first to the individual works and next, to the group as a whole. Only then can the viewer see the “gold” in this transformation, thanks to the artist as alchemist.
On the topic of her artistic process, Mengel said, “To be an artist, one needs to be in a world of inner connection — at times both poetic and spiritual. Although I draw upon art history especially the Impressionists and Abstract Expressionists, I paint from my own impressions and memories. It is my experience as an artist to take my ideas, images, and inspirations and transform them on the canvas, where together they create a dialogue.”
A long-time resident of Westport and a life-time artist, Claudia Mengel graduated with a BFA from Brainard Art School at State University of New York at Potsdam. Subsequently, she studied painting with Yale University Professor Robert Reed and painting with Boston University Professor Hugh O’Donnell. In addition, she studied concepts of art in Darien with Constance Kiermaier and has done two residencies at the Vermont Studio School. Her work is in private and corporate collections in the United States and abroad.
