Art Exhibit: Petula Bloomfield's Laced
Shadowy, faceless, androgynous forms emerge from densely layered surfaces upon which the kinetic energy of emotions is superimposed.
Questioning the concept of identity, Petula explores the relationship between physical and emotional identity. In these paintings, she destabilizes individual likeness in favor of presence. The presence of the undefined figure may stimulate a psychological interplay between the inner and outer environments.
The paintings can be adversarial, violent and vulnerable at the same time. The technique of using multiple overlaying layers of paint attempts to reveal both the transparent and opaque nature of the physical, emotional and spiritual experience of being human.
Petula Bloomfield has been an exhibiting artist in galleries and museums since 1990. She was accepted into the PhD in Visual Arts program at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts in 2007 and has a Master of Science in Art from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from Clark University in Worcester. She has taught art classes and designed and presented workshops in schools and her studio since 1996. She has been an art instructor at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School since 2003 and has completed two residencies at the Vermont Studio Center. She is represented by Gallery Anthony Curtis in Boston. Petula's work was commissioned as a permanent installation for the entrance lobby in the new Sunderland Public Library in Sunderland, MA.
Opening Reception: Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, 4-6 PM
