BAYarts presents Mary Ann Sedivy's 'Intuitive Variations'

"Forest," a diptych by Mary Ann Sedivy is one of the works on display in the "Intuitive Variations" exhibit at BAYarts.

Not willing to surrender to a rusty routine, artist Mary Ann Sedivy has titled her BAYarts gallery exhibition, "Intuitive Variations." Though Sedivy usually paints landscapes in oil paints, she shook that around for this collection by making room for a new technique in her arsenal.

It was a new class that gave way to the shift, says Sedivy. "A few years ago I took a workshop which introduced me to the process of painting with acrylic on paper while layering in collage media. Usually I paint landscapes in oils. Since taking the workshop, while still pursuing landscape painting, I’ve continued playing with acrylic painting on paper." The playful feeling comes across in the exhibition, which is housed in the BAYarts' Diane Boldman Education Gallery. And though seeped in abstract forms, there's still a semblance of landscape to the pieces. 

Vibrant, visually bold colors (goldenrod, viridian green, persimmon) are at the feast-set forefront, and Sedivy truly put a lot of thought into that component. "Color mixing, compelling placement and layering of color are already common to landscape painting. But in stepping outside my color comfort zone, I chose color combinations that I don't normally use in order to shake up my creative process." Successfully deployed, the colors have a whimsical joy in each piece.

These pieces are not just colorful, but also richly gilded in texture from an intermixing of charcoal and pencil into painted layers and collaged papers.

Sedivy refers to these works as being "spontaneous and fresh from a result of play." That exploratory, natural approach is quite clear in each of the pieces. It's also what helped craft the exhibition title of "Intuitive Variations." Sedivy explains, "Allowing intuition to guide my painting process helped me cross the bridge to producing abstract compositions. Questioning. Making way for possibilities and solutions. An artist can get stuck in effective and good creative habits. Shaking things up can shift perspective and open up new creative channels."

"Intuitive Variations" is on display through Sept. 16. See bayarts.net for more information.

Jessica Stockdale

BAYarts

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Volume 8, Issue 16, Posted 9:42 AM, 08.16.2016