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Reflections and Revisitations, 2012

oil and watercolor on paper 28 1/2” x 21 1/4” each

The concept of the series “Formal Couples” originally occurred in 1973 from witnessing the happenstance of a dark framed image in a gallery exhibit being used as a mirror by the viewer to arrange their hair while reflecting the viewer’s own image into the artwork. This situation /artist’s frustration lead to the idea of using “art reflects life” and “ “image as environment” as a starting point.

“Reflections and Revisitations”, shown here, now uses the Andrew Freedman House and its history as the context using this effect. The viewer is now intentionally in the artwork and benefits from it regardless of their true social position. As you now pass down the corridor, you may “see” yourself, using the reflected illusion created in the art to give a combined new image allowing that which the past residents hoped would be seen as well. Art as benefactor.