Piecies of Thoughts

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

By Hailey Hawkins

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-New York artist Judy Pfaff has made her career out of exploring the potential of her medium, and her exhibition, “I Dwell in Possibility,” opening Thursday, is no exception. The Tayloe Piggott Gallery will feature Pfaff’s work with the Jackson Hole Gallery Association’s Third Thursdays Artwalk. The exhibit will display Pfaff’s recent prints and mixed media “assemblages.”

Pfaff is known for her ability to interpret, imagine and transform space by compounding media including painting, sculpture and architecture so that The New York Times has called her “a collagist in space.” Assistant director Heather Boyd at the Tayloe Piggott Gallery said that Pfaff specializes in materials and techniques that make her images jump out from the canvas.

“They’re very sculptural in the way that you experience them,” said Boyd, “with her work, she has tried to convey the feeling of walking through a painting.”

This most recent exhibition clearly reflects Pfaff’s interest in working in three dimensions. She has been known to use everyday household items such as coffee filters, real and artificial flowers, string and manila file folders contained in deep shadowbox frames. Her multitudes of media are often difficult to recognize because she twists, tears, paints, burns or otherwise manipulates them before or during layering and assembling. Pfaff finishes with hand painting and drawing.

Her pieces take on various moods and can range from vibrant colorful portrayals to more somber and melancholy. Boyd said that Pfaff had found her inspiration for the three dimensional pieces while scuba diving. She tried to take the feeling of the colors and textures of the fish and coral combined with the dimensional liberty of the scuba experience and put those feelings into her installations.
 This exhibit will be the first time that Pfaff’s work has been shown in the valley, but Pfaff will not be in attendance.

Judy Pfaff's opening reception for “I Dwell in Possibility,” is, 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday at Tayloe Piggott Gallery. 733-0555.

‘Dwell In Possibility,’ mixed media on canvas by Judy Pfaff.

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Piecies of Thoughts | Planet JH News Article: Arts Beat

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