RON MARTIN

Cynthia Chapman's painting, Like Passing Ships, 2009, Oil on Canvas, 48" x 48 ", reminds me of something that Roald Nasgaard [1] brought to my attention. And, it is a specific paradigm that is perceived through the notion of"action as event."* Yes, it is the paradigm as a painted pattern outlining the boundary of an event in the time and space of the observer's immediate but transitory existence. But, for sure, the experience of the experiencer* is not fixed and deterministic but is ever changing like a river that we have stepped into and out of only to re-enter if we choose to*. Yes, its part of our nature to return to things and reconsider and absorb them at a latter date. We do this with a host of things like with returning to our favorite books, paintings, films, music, and videos.

Yes, but the challenge is that there is a few possible ways of analyzing the aesthetic order that Chapman's recent paintings reaffirm. One such possible interpretation is that with Chapman's Like Passing Ships the format of the colour presentation implies a perceptual model of distancing. Like things passing in and out view, perceptible to being less so, faint through to being strong. Thus, we see lighter tones in contrast to the darker tones. And, this, in turn, suggests that things are seen at marked but different distances within one framework the narrow but formal space of the painted surface of the canvas. This narrow abstract space of the surface of the painting differentiates between things seen afar and from up close.

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Ron Martin - Christopher Cutts Gallery