Pat Keck - Not Clearly Defined

Patricia Whalen Keck

The nine sculptural works in the exhibition Not Clearly Definedrepresent aspects of the bronze casting process, such as direct wax modeling, and concepts that are important to me. The precarious and fragile nature of life is a subject that recurs frequently throughout my work, it examines the roles of men and women in society. The solitary figure has the power to convey meaning no matter what form it takes. For that reason, I model both female and male figures to express, through gestureand imagery, the concepts of fragility, strength, protection and control. I am concerned with the roles that society places on women and men within the themes of guardianship and war.

The twelve drawings in the exhibition explore the formal properties of color, line and shape, and my interest in abstraction. Puzzled by the process Arshille Gorky used to transform his ideas into abstract compositions, I devised a method using specific guidelines for a series of twelve drawings, each completed in two hours. The color schemes varied, but each followed a nine-tone value scale and were based on simple color theory choices such as complementary or analogous color schemes. I randomly divided the picture plane into three areas, then freely drew curved and straight lines dividing these three areas again and again and again. I did this a total of nine times creating a delicate framework for the addition of color. I was then able to randomly fill in the areas with color and a variety of thick and thin lines, resulting in a range of tone and intensities of color that varied from one drawing to the next. By setting myself specific time-based guidelines, I was able to create a spontaneous, consistent body of work.

I hope that viewers will reflect on their experiences when responding to my work.