NYFA Project, Figure in Motion 2010-2012

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) fiscal sponsorship

Project: Figure in Motion

There will be an exhibition at Wagner College Staten Island in the Union Gallery October 2 - 27, 2012.

The opening reception will include live performance, a work by choreographer Laurie De Vito with a solo performance by Mika Yanagihara, Saturday October 13th 4-6pm in the Union Gallery.

For more information visit my News link or web page at http://griseldahealy.ping.com/Exhibition.

Artist Statement

These 13 panel paintings make up one work. They were made after many drawing sessions with model dancers in my studio.  These paintings are an exploration- a way to capture figure movement both spatial and temporal – and timed movement.

This project, titled “Figure in Motion”, has fiscal sponsorship from the New York Foundation of the Arts (NYFA).

Laurie De Vito, choreographer and one of the founders of Dance New Amsterdam(DNA) has been the grounding source for this project. My models are her company of dancers. De Vito’s work has provided me with an array of visual figure motion possibilities that, to my eye, elegantly express the ideas I wish to convey: visual contemporary figure movement in the context of our time and place. For my figure configurations I chose specific sequences from De Vito’s choreographed works, movement and figure shapes that have been created and inspired by the music of various composers  including Philip Glass and Armand Armar to name a few.

The dancers have come from all parts of the world to dance in New York City. They meet weekly to rehearse at DNA Dance Studios downtown on Chambers Street near the courts and City Hall. The context of these panel paintings make references to the monumental architecture, bridges, parks, river, sea and sky found in this part of the city.

Aside from the pleasure of organizing these sculptural shapes in motion, there is something ultimately satisfying about the process and the challenge of trying to capture in paint the very essence of a visual art form that is so fleeting, so quickly thrown into the past tense. The transitional shapes that one sees in dance performance require so much work and are a gift from the choreographer  which is then passed on to the dancers and finally to, in a timed performance on a found stage, and to the spectator in a series of glorious visual moments. It is these specific transitional shapes, the fleeting sequential movements of figures through given space and time that I am striving to comprehend, capture and project: the essence of that motion in time. Dance performance is a vital component of this project and a live performance will take place here in this gallery on the opening day of the exhibit, October 13^th at 4pm.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the generous support of Laurie De Vito and her company of dancers: Kate Bailey, Sarah Clark, Rachel Feinerman, Sally Im, Megumi Onishi, Suzanne Reiman, Marcia Elizabeth Thompson, Mika Yanagihara, Stephanie Lempert, Kate Bignell, Alissa Wall; Catherine Peila director of DNA; and finally to the New York Foundation of the Arts (NYFA) who have supported me and inspired me to become more ambitious in my work.

Exhibition Dates: November 18, 2010 - January 3rd 2011

You are cordially invited to my exhibition at the Dance New Amsterdam Gallery (DNA) 280 Broadway, 2nd floor (entrance on Chambers) New York, NY 10007.
Gallery hours: Monday - Sunday, 9am - 10pm
More information: 212- 625-8369/212-227-9856 www.dnadance.org

Artist Statement:

I am in the process of working up a series of figure movement sequences; working from life with Dance New Amsterdam (DNA) dancers as models; beginning with drawings, and small oil sketches followed by larger movement sequences using graphite and charcoal materials on horizontal scroll lengths of paper.

Once I have arrived at a series of successful sequential movements I will seek ways to set these figures in the context of specific architecture found in downtown Manhattan. Appropriately, these dancers come from various parts of the world, their global backgrounds representing the changing patterns of Manhattan’s people and, more broadly, this country. Furthermore, DNA is located at City Hall, where Chambers meets Centre Street. Here we find classical architecture --- powerful, magisterial, yet exuberant buildings. They project an aura of permanence, of timeless justice, wisdom, and truth, yet they house people who constantly move in all kinds of ways such that the buildings themselves ‘move’, entering time, as it were, as they take on new meaning and life.

The figures in these works are drawn from dancers who model for me in my studio. They are a company of seven dancers and they work with one of the founders of DNA, choreographer Laurie de Vito.  De Vito’s work and her dance company provide me with an array of visual figure motion possibilities that to my eye elegantly express the ideas I wish to convey; visual contemporary figure movement in the context of our time and place. For my figure configurations I choose specific sequences from De Vito’s work, movement and figure shapes that have been created and inspired by composers Philip Glass and Armand Armar. My ambition is to exhibit these sequences in an appropriate venue that could provide for live dance performance and musician performance

Aside from the pleasure of organizing these sculptural shapes in motion, there is something ultimately satisfying with the process and challenge of trying to capture, in paint, the very essence of a visual art form which is so fleeting, so quickly thrown into the past tense. These transitional shapes that one sees in dance performance require so much work and gift from the creator which is then passed on to the dancers and finally to a timed performance, the found stage, and to the spectator in a series of glorious visual moments. It is these specific transitional  shapes, the fleeting sequential movements of figures through given space and time that I am striving to comprehend, capture and project; the essence of that motion in time.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the generous support of Laurie de Vito and her company of dancers: Kate Bailey, Sarah Clark, Rachel Feinerman, Sally Im, Megumi Onishi, Suzanne Reiman, Marcia Elizabeth Thompson, and the executive director of DNA Catherine Peila and staff who made this show possible and finally to the New York Foundation of the Arts who again have also supported me and inspired me to become more ambitious in my work.

In January 25, 2010 I became a recipient for a fiscal sponsorship with the New York Foundation of the Arts. My proposed project titled "Figure in Motion" explores ways to capture movement- spatial and temporal - and timed movement. 

I am in the process of working up a series of movement sequences; working from life with dancers as models; beginning with drawings, and small oil sketches followed by larger movement sequences using graphite and charcoal materials on horizontal scroll lengths of paper.

These preliminary drawings and oil sketches are studies of figures moving in space. Once I have arrived at a series of successful sequential movements I will seek ways to set these figures in the context of New York City, which in itself displays movement and stillness, a dialectic reflected in the architecture that houses the figures and ever shifting patterns of people who live here.

My final object is to make several sets of connected panel paintings; connected panels appropriate for gallery exhibitions, theater performance, and open space venues.