Tag: Hudson Beach Glass

Hudson Beach Gallery presents

Review by Jennifer Mackiewicz
September 2, 2011

The contrast between Insun Kim’s and Sheilah Rechtschaffer’s work, currently on exhibition at Hudson Beach Glass, is so apparent and vast that it is surprising that the show can work as a cohesive whole. But it does. It is, in fact, the polarity of the works by these two women that makes the disparate parts come together. The sharp, clean edges of Kim’s work make the viewer see Rechtschaffer’s pastels and paintings with a keener eye; in reverse, Kim’s work is seen from a more reflective and softer angle.

Insun Kim’s steel sculptures are like containers holding another sculpture, a meaning within a meaning. She constructs boxes, shelves, sets of drawers with geometric precision and hard angular edges. Inside these rigid yet airy constructs, Kim allows herself the freedom to explore the created negative space with found materials, cast pieces and constructed objects. A strong connection to nature is evident throughout with her use of seedpods, rocks and depictions of trees constructed with wire and nails. The blocky metal gears of Blossom, become flowers with centers of cut copper wire. In Nest, a gigantic diamond ring with a bicycle chain band sits upright atop a small vanity with a single drawer. Inside the drawer is a maze with a small wiry nest in the center. The delicate nest, so tenderly placed and buried (inside the maze, inside the drawer, inside the vanity) is in striking juxtaposition to the massive and blatant ring. This work is powerful for the unsettling questions it raises on relationships, commitment and family.

Sheilah Rechtschaffer’s paintings and works on paper are remembered landscapes of the time she spent with her husband in Viet Nam as volunteers. It would be easy to say the works are about the color green – and to a large extent they are. Many are simply fields of color: verdant grassy greens, to muted grayish taupes, to acidic lime greens, interlaced with vibrant orange, blues and violet. To Rechtschaffer, who became active in the antiwar movement when the U.S. was engaged in Viet Nam, these fields are memories of loss and bloodshed. But the work is not violent – peace has come to these fields. Unlike traditional landscapes, most of these pieces are more square than horizontal, lending a portrait-like quality. In this, her latest group of work, she has added a type of calligraphic language to the fields. In Mekong Delta #1 and Mekong Delta #2, the black calligraphic elements make the static fields come to life, giving them a kind of electric, jumpy movement. Rechtschaffer is a master of pastels and a brilliant colorist, qualities evident in these works.

The show is up through Monday, September 5.

www.beaconfineartfoundry.com and www.sheilahrechtschaffer.com