NEWFANE-The Crowell Art Gallery at Moore Free Library will present “Arrangements,” by Cathy Osman, a variety of collages and oil paintings by Cathy Osman during Feb. 28.
Osman explains more about her theme for the show: “my process of whether it’s collage or painting, is arranging elements, right? It’s a shape, it’s a mark, it’s a color, it’s sort of putting, oh, I’ll put a yellow spot down, and then, oh no, then I’ve got to, you know, rearrange it in order to make it settle for me.”
Osman has been doing this work for the last 10 years. “I sort of go back and forth between easel painting and these collages, and so I’ll show a combination.
“The collages are constructed on my printing press, and I make cardboard plates or Plexiglas plates, which have mark making on it. And then I make a series of raw materials that I can then use to construct the collages.” Osman explains.
The exhibit includes larger scale collages, mostly floral based. “Since the pandemic, when we were all shut down and anxious, I sort of returned to the image of the flower, probably for some kind of sustenance and seeking out some beauty.” Osman says.
The “arrangements” in life
Osman explains more about how her whole career has been landscape based: “I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. I moved to New York City, yet I just longed for this sort of grand landscape, so I just sort of recreated it right from abstractions for many years.”
Living in Marlboro, Vermont, also plays an important role into the inspiration Osman has with the landscape she is surrounded by.
“Whether it’s fallen trees, it’s the chaos of the of the woods, or it’s the complexity of a flower next leaves, next to, you know, some kind of plant matter. And so I like all of that sort of, again, that arrangement of things Vermont is so special.” Osman says.
She explains she is a process artist, “ once the painting gets going, it’s talking to me more than, I guess, the still life itself, or the construction, you know, it’s, it’s a discipline, more than it is an inspiration. […] I like to say, you know, the painting calls me, I respond, goes back and forth, but I do cherish it. And you know that the inspiration is kind of coming from trust.”
Making collages, she talks about the labor of reconstructing, constructing, and rearranging and then creating an arrangement.
Osman’s future arrangements
Osman has advice for people looking to begin creating art: “ Just dive in; let’s trust ourselves. Let’s not have high expectations. I think so many of us say, ‘I can’t draw,’ right? ‘I can’t do that. I’m not creative. I’m not ...’, you know, and that word ‘creative’ is a big hurdle to that which we do when we’re making something.”
Osman encourages anybody interested in taking a class to “come be around other people who can encourage and and make it into a pleasurable activity.
“Immediately the expectation is to make something that looks like something else that you’ve seen.” Osman explains.
Two of Osman’s paintings are part of a group show at the Ava Gallery through February 28.
To learn more about Osman and her work, visit cathyosman.com, as well as her Instagram @cathyosman.
Speaking of viewing her work, she says, “I don’t think it’s hard to digest, but it’s complicated to look at.
And I just asked people to slow down, you know, and just look carefully.”
This Arts item by Alyssa Grosso was written for The Commons.