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© Sancturay |
© Red and Yellow |
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CONFIGUATIONS OF MEMORY is a series of prints of treasured experiences of memorable times and places. Translated into abstract idiom, the memories assume a complex visual quality that extends the range of narrative possibilities. For many years now, Evangeline J. Montgomery has explored the role of memory and memorials in fashioning human history and identity. In her 1997 exhibition at Gallery 104D Washington D.C., Conversations at Mother's Altar, she produced an allegorical installation that is both an exploration of memory and a tribute to mothers. In this exhibition, Configurations of Memory, she moves into the printmaking mode to dramatically explore the configuration and coding-process of memory. It represents memory as a template on which the mind stores cherished experiences of places and events. Within its cavernous recesses, the mind preserves innumerable data by inscribing and scrawling on the highly sensitive memory template. The swirling textures and overlays of somber colors of Autumn Breeze (1996) and Constellation (1996) evoke the subterranean recesses of the mind. Bleeding into one another the colors create tonal depth and a haunting quality of immensity. In Calligraphy I, II & V (1997) and Summer's Sun (1997), Montgomery produces vigorous scrawls of blue, orange, yellow, off-white and alizarin crimson against the white colored background of the paper. Though evocative of automatic writing, these scrawls are primarily emblematic of the mental coding units or patterns in which information is stored. Simultaneously playful and controlled, the scrawls gradually give way to the random flourish of the calligraphic strokes of Autumn Winds (1997), Sanctuary (1997) and Fall Winds (1997). The latter are superimposed against the swirling lines of a heavily textured, multi-colored field, giving the composition an urgent sense of intensity and volatility. Bridging the two types of designs are Winter's Tide (1997) and Autumn Breeze II (1997). In sharp startling contrast, the dramatic off-white scrolls of the works, representing water foam, cavort across the paper in free-flowing movement. Highland Flowers (1998 edition of 20) is principally a study in turquoise green, in which this underlying color is randomly overlaid with silkscreened pinks and reds. Highland Flowers is an evocative portrayal of the spring flowers that coat the Californian hillsides close to the ocean. Still on landscapes and the environment, Field of Flames (1998, edition of 2) presents us with a reflection of a different season in which the fields are saturated with reddish, yellowish, and orange flowers, with little splashes of green. Speaking in a complex voice, Montgomery intends the seasonal change from spring to early fall to echo life's gradual progression from youth to full maturity. Moving to Configurations (from number 1 to 9) we encounter monoprints in which each is a different shape and color, but the silkscreened background image is basically the same kind of marks. The polarity of sameness and difference is captured through using different colors and repetitive markings to evoke the landscape in its different seasonal changes. A New York City native, Evangeline J. Montgomery has a long history as both an artist and arts administrator, serving variously as curator, consultant, program officer coordinating American art exhibitions nationally and internationally, art and museum conference coordinator, researcher and contributor to numerous art publications. Montgomery has exhibited at many distinguished venues, the Brandywine Gallery in Philadelphia, the NCA Gallery in Detroit, Gallery 10 in Washington D.C, the Art Gallery of Washtenaw College in Ann Arbor, and A Space in Toronto. Her artwork ranges from metal and fiber sculpture to photography and printmaking. |
© Copyright 2000 Africa Resource Center. All rights reserved.
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