Gar Wang

Warwick, NY

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I have always thrived on working with different materials in multiple artistic mediums. Inspired by my mentors at Princeton, I was encouraged to explore these various paths, and eventually to share my enthusiasm through teaching.  Emmet Gowin instilled in me a deep appreciation for subtle beauty and elusive light.  I will never forget Tony Smith’s intensity, his captivating stories that conveyed the potency of myth and cultural meaning in art.  As my kindred spirit, Toshiko Takaezu’s artistic output blended so naturally with her life.  I realized from their example that the creative impulse germinates from deep within, born out of a collective consciousness.

 

“Redemption” is representative of a large body of abstract wall reliefs that constitutes a major portion of my work post graduation.  Consisting of multiple, non-two-dimensional panels, these reliefs average 15 to 20 feet wide.  Protruding several feet and at different angles from the wall, they are architectural in scale.  In hindsight, I am struck by the confidence and youthful vitality these monumental structures convey with their bold colors and play on physical and illusionistic space.

 

Concurrently while these reliefs grew in size and number, I experimented with numerous materials, including:  clay, wood, metal, plant matter and fibers, sometimes combining these to create large installations. The wet felting process offered a range of textural possibilities from delicate, gossamer veils to dense organic forms embedded with rich hues intrinsic to dyed fibers.  At times I incorporated felted elements into tree parts and bamboo.  In other instances, these suspended forms cast shadows that created drawings on the wall.  As such, the dialogue between the physical versus the immaterial continues with light as an integral determinant of form.

 

More recently, I have been concentrating on a series of elusive graphite drawings.  Numerous entwined marks subtly weave in and out of atmospheric space.  These drawings invite quiet contemplation.  They reflect my acceptance of the natural passage of time.  With inevitable physical decline looming as we age, I am beginning to see beauty in entropy.