FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

“I wonder if our initial relationship to trees is aesthetic rather than scientific. When we come across a beautiful tree, it is an extraordinary thing.” — Francis Halle, Botanist

MARY HRBACEK       

HUMAN NATURE: PEFKA & SYCAMORE

 Opening Reception: Thursday, January 9   6-8 pm.           

January 9 – February 1

Elga Wimmer PCC is pleased to present a one-person show by Mary Hrbacek, featuring new work consisting of drawings, paintings and painted drawings. Ms Hrbacek’s signature theme focuses on her unique depiction of trees, as they relate to the “human form in nature,” inhabiting the margin between figuration and abstraction.  Her work calls into question the status quo in society that tends to view nature as a separate entity to be exploited instead of recognizing the inherent interconnectedness of living things.

This fascination with nature and transmuted natural forms has been explored by other artists in the past, most notably Dorothea Tanning and Georgia O’Keeffe. While Tanning took a more mythological approach, Georgia O’Keeffe’s Cow’s Skull has a direct link to Hrbacek’s “Enclosed Torso.” The latter depicts a “body” of a tree that is fenced in, as if preserved or protected. Hrbacek expresses these perimeters by situating her trees within the simple architectural boundaries of cafes or restaurants. She views their setting as being “embraced,” within limits, which parallels her life experience today.

The much more austere charcoal drawings on paper are made of compressed tree bark, that recalls muscles and flesh, the powerful forces of nature. Here too, vertical lines encase parts of the tree which interact with contrasting zones of shadow and light. The lines zoom in on twisted sections that seem to burst out of the frame.