Paula Overbay
Penelope Series
Constellation Series
The forces that run our cosmos interest me: the insides of clouds and storms; the nerve impulses colliding in our brains at 200mph or thed growth of patterns in a petrie dish. I can imagine how these forces may cause molecules to jostle and change at the micro level and I imagine the movement of constellations at the macro level. They hover in space and their energy compels progressin, explosion and growth patterns. The dots can represent the unseen world of throbbing particles and minute life forms seen in microscopes.
The journey starts from a single point and continues without conscious plan. The mmove into color masses that coalesce and disintegrate like flocks of birds in murmuration. They can run in long strings like beads and curl like snails. They can puff up and rumble and dribble into nothing. Each small dot is individual as it swarms with its fellows and navigate by some impulse of its own choosing. The can resemble groups of molecules captured for a fleetin momentthen fading out of sight likefireflies or stars at dawn.
Discovery of the Page
A dozen pieces can be in play at any one time, some laying
dormant for a year until the solution occurs. Perhaps the next element appears from a quick unguarded glance or upon waking.
Even working within the confines of one dot at a time
and a piece of paper, the end result is still a surprise.
Premeditation is impossible and undesirable. In
order to produce dot after dot I must be constantlyalert as in meditation while on stilts or meditation
while driving.
The formal goal is transitions: from mass to line; from
line to patterns, and patterns returning to mass.
Slowly a composition is built.
Harbingers
At the MacDowell Colony in 1994 I noticed a huge lunar moth unfurling slowly on my studio wall. I watched it for a long time, admiring its wings and spots. It was as big as my palm. Not until much later did I recognize its influence in abstract patterns, translucent color and the ideas of impermanence and change.
My search for the current series of "Constellations began at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest IL. with a blank paper in front of me as I turned away from my paintings. I had answered all the questions that I had posed for the paintings and found only boredom in continuing.
There were no interruptions for days on end as I sweated through the first nascent Constellation pieces, staring out the window; going for walks. I am extremely grateful for the months that the Ragdale Foundation granted to me to develop and produce this series.
Luminous Color
Long ago, when I was five and lived in Carver Oregon it was popular to use a rectangle cut glass lidded container on the dinner table. It was always filled with some type of jello. Through the cut glass it looked shimmery and alive, especially the red. It was the depth and intensity that was appealing as the light passed through.
Later on that year I was invited to a friend's home for dinner. On their table was an opaque round bowl of jello which was the incorrect receptacle from my point of view. It did not show off any of its qualities. Then on my way home I realized a concept: it meant that anything could go into anything and change shape and color.