Pictorial Illusion: The Graphic Art of Rachel Gross
Lamson Library January 31 - March 16, 2007

Opening Reception January 31, 4 - 6 p.m.

Vermont printmaker, Rachel Gross, has this to say about her work:

I have always been interested in the narrative possibility of pictorial illusion. The images of furniture, interior spaces, and details of floral wallpaper and upholstery patterns, create a surreal, dream-like atmosphere. The ghost-like images are reminiscent of plans or blueprints, implying a future manifestation, while at the same time they are traces from a past event.

Time is also an important part of the process. When making the etchings the process of scratching, scraping, sanding is literally embedded in the plates. The linear images in many of the panel pieces are made by tracing from photographs onto the panels using a type of carbon paper made out of powdered pigment. The resulting image is a record of the activity of tracing.

In much of the work the sense of space alternates between depth and flatness through the layering of linear elements. This flat/deep dialectic is underscored by the illusion of depth in the drawings and paintings versus the concrete nature of the wooden panels and shaped etching plates. The rounded corners of the surfaces themselves suggest desktops, mattresses, or old television screens. These surfaces become like containers for human activity and design, psychological spaces on which to project visions for the future and memories of the past.