Eugenie Torgerson

Directional Waters

eugeniet2 — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:36:10 +0000

The St. Joseph River forms itself somewhere in Ohio, I think, and serpentines its way back and forth across the Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan borders until it takes a definitive turn to the north in South Bend. Perhaps the place should have been called North Bend, but that would mess up the whole Notre Dame thing.

As the river flows through Niles, MI, it is heading swiftly and beautifully north towards Saint Joseph where it will pour itself into Lake Michigan. I do not know the final destination of its waters. I do know that, wide and curvy, it is one of the prettiest rivers I have seen, and people on its banks have been wise enough to build fine bridges over it.

Flow South to Flow North

I have combined a photograph of the Main Street Bridge in Niles with scans of drawings, many images of clouds, and a map — shifting the color, transparency, and interaction of the images to devise Flow South to Flow North. After printing it on a prepared steel plate, I sanded and scraped the image, over-painted it, and bolted it to a black wood backboard. Tomorrow I will haul it across the Big River to Saint Louis.

New Work at Tappan Z Gallery

eugeniet2 — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:12:33 +0000

My work has been shown at the Tappan Z Gallery http://www.tappanzgallery.com/ since early this spring, and just today I shipped four new pieces to Tarrytown, NY.

I have departed from the conventional framing of pastels and have either sewn or bolted the drawings to a stack of luscious Asian papers, tinted drawing papers, thin tissue coated with shellac, and rich silk fabrics. The sewn pieces are constructed like pamphlets, and the pages expand the dense narrative nature of the landscapes. Talismans hang from the center cords.

A Separate Place on the Map

The Story of China Passage

In the two longer pieces, I have punched holes through the varnished pastels and secured them to the stacks with brass hardware. To me, this construction presents an interesting contrast between the utilitarian and the romantic. For further information about the work, please contact Tappan Z Gallery at 914-332-8800 or tpzgallery@gmail.com

On the Verge of Everything

Tribal Land

A Big Sale

eugeniet2 — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:59:14 +0000

I will be showing mixed media work and some pastels in West Bloomfield, MI July 31 and August 1 at the Orchard Lake Fine Art Show http://www.hotworks.org/orchardlakefineartshow/

I am offering a 10% discount with a mention of this notice or of the e-mail announcements I have sent. This also extends to friends and neighbors you might direct to my space at the show, #227.

In the Distance

eugeniet2 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:14:51 +0000

In the Distance

I have finally finished a new book object called In the Distance. I suppose it qualifies as sculpture or a 3-dimensional book-like project. Whatever the category, the purpose of the piece is to elevate and show off a hearty, thick book of poetry and images, encrusted with beads and ornaments.

For me, the book is a pleasure to hold and to investigate. Its interior pages hold digitally-printed images and short poems that are part of my on-going exploration of the lives of those who migrate. In the Distance might be cataloging the thoughts of someone who left the known experience of the East for the unpredictable journey West. How does one determine when to stop and put down roots? Who claims the land and names it? How does one accept the unexpected, and how does one endure?

In the Distance

The piece consists of a sort of bookstand constructed of binder’s board, paper, and bookcloth. The sides have digital composites that have been printed on synthetic Yupo and waxed. The chunky book sits comfortably on the slightly movable spread wings, and the whole arrangement can be covered with a tall, image-bearing box that has a window in the lid to enable viewing of the fan of pages. Everything fits snugly and invites handling and exploration.

A neighbor child asked, “What do you do with this?” Ah, you hold it, open & close it, put the lid on, take the lid off, read the words, look at the pictures, fiddle with the beads, enjoy the leather & paper, and think about everything.

In the Distance is available from Fran Durako, owner of the fascinating Kelmscott Bookshop in Baltimore http://www.kelmscottbookshop.com/

Work for The West

eugeniet2 — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 03:01:32 +0000

Parallel Geography

In addition to digital composites printed on metal, I will be taking new wall books to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival July 3-5 in Denver.

It is an outdoor event that draws visitors from the entire region and offers all manner of interesting sensory experiences. The two pieces shown here are essentially pastels nested on maps, on paper coated with shellac, on gold organza, on thick, dense Asian handmade papers — all anchored with brass fittings and framed under non-reflective glass. They are deeply layered and understandably heavy.

www.EugenieTorgerson.com

On The Verge of Everything

Pastels, Paper, and Hardware

eugeniet2 — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:54:36 +0000

Until recently it did not occur to me that pastel drawings on paper could be presented in any fashion other than hung in a mat and glassed in a frame. I now know otherwise and have some new work in which the drawings are sewn, book-style, or fastened with machine screws & acorn nuts to nests of handmade Asian papers and various fabrics, then mounted under non-reflective glass. Occasionally I screw the drawing down onto a metal plate, and there is a delicious de-mystification in punching through the sky, as my insightful critic/observer Anthony Charlesworth puts it.

I will show these new pieces June 12-13 in Chicago at the Old Town Art Fair http://www.oldtowntriangle.com/fair/general_information/index.html

Right From the Start

pastel bolted to various papers

framed under glass 20″x16″

private collection

Farms, Barns, and Air

eugeniet2 — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:07:20 +0000

Here in southwest Michigan, the intense activity of spring and summer digs its way into my work. Big planting machines are on the roads, and in the fields they fill the air with rumbling sound & churned-up dust. We watch for new growth as old barns continue their slow, majestic sag.

I have digitally combined photographs of all this with scans of pastels & old plat maps, generating some new work on metal. After I prepare the steel plates for printing, I cross my fingers and feed them into my Epson R2400 inkjet printer. The images have life and texture from the pre-coats and varnishes, and a ride through my drill press gets them ready for bolting onto cradled backboards crafted by Dennis Snow.

: Leaving Black Lake Road

Old Anchor of Grayson's Barn

digital composites printed on 10″x24″ steel

& bolted to 22″x36″ wood panel

$1,150 each plus packing and shipping

www.EugenieTorgerson.com

Two New Wall Books: The Mystery of Shells

eugeniet2 — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:15:00 +0000

I can no longer remember on what beach, on what wonderful day, I came across these shells. I have carried them with me for years and finally, in the deepness of winter, photographed them on white paper. Thanks to the generosity of photographer friends who got right into the water, it appears, I had in my computer some wonderful images that I combined with the shells. Manipulating color and layer transparencies, I was able to merge objects and places, hoping to add a page to the mystery of shells.

These two pieces are essentially books for the wall. The images, printed on Stonehenge paper and varnished, are nested in luscious pile of handmade papers and bolted down. The work is framed under non-reflective glass.

Listen to What the Water Says

Listen to What the Water Says

mixed media

11×14

The Start of the Song of Water

The Start of the Song of Water

mixed media

11×14

New Work about Water and Air

eugeniet2 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:51:40 +0000

In preparation for a show in Miami, I have just finished six new digital images that I printed on 12×12 inch steel plates and bolted to light wood backboards. Digitally combining maps, scans of pastels, and photographs, I manipulated the color and transparency of many layers in order to produce images that are lush, dramatic, and lyrical. I am grateful to my son, Ryan Torgerson, and his wife, Paige, for allowing me to work with the beautiful photographs they have taken of water, sky, and gorgeous vegetation. They have been to the paradise that we in snow-bound Michigan can only dream about.

Center of the Edge of Paradise

Center of the Edge of Paradise

steel plate 12″x12″ bolted to 24′ x24″ wood

Other images are available in the same format:

An Armful of Pleasure

Azure Hideaway

Blue Liquid Light and Air

Speaking of Wind and Water

Treasure of the Sun

Center of the Edge of Paradise

Wall Books with Drawings

eugeniet2 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:30:46 +0000

It was not much of a leap to incorporate pastel drawings into the framed pieces I call Wall Books because they are constructed as simple folios and framed behind non-reflective glass. I am finding that sewing through the drawing de-mystifies it, in some way, and brings the contemplative nature of books to a medium usually presented formally and always protectively on a wall.

I will show three of the new pieces at the Plaza Art Fair in Kansas City, September 25-27, and then in Armonk, NY and and Greenwich, CT at the Bruce Museum show.

The frame dimensions are 14×16

A Separate Place on the Map