For at least a decade, Marcy Dunn Ramsey has been painting marshes. You’d think she’d be ready to move on by now, but no. In her new show, “Aspiration,” on view at Carla Massoni Gallery through October 14, there they are again—yet more tangles of marsh grass with yet more reflections dancing in the shallow water. But far from being tedious, these new oil paintings are captivating glimpses into the secrets concealed in this boggy realm.
The slightest ripple slides across a narrow channel of bright blue water between stands of phragmites in “Torso.” A movement soft as a baby’s breath, it speaks of the shifting tide meeting a slight breeze.
Marshes used to be considered wastelands, soggy and smelly, best drained and filled in. But now we realize they are one of the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, providing invaluable habitat, acting as sponges that filter and purify water, stabilizing our shorelines, and sequestering greenhouse gasses. They have been called the lungs of the earth.
As President of the Chester River Association, which works for the health of the river and its watershed, Ramsey is well aware that marshes are environmental gold. While the show casts the marsh as a living, breathing environment, the theme, “Aspiration,” doubles for the ambition to protect and nourish these precious spaces. But it does even more than that.
Meditators learn to “follow the breath,” to hone their awareness of the continuous rhythm of that vital connection between the body and the outside world. In Ramsey’s paintings, awareness is the key. The quirky angle of a broken reed and the jittery curls of reflections broken by rings of ripples each have a grace and comic charm akin to haiku, along with its keen focus on interconnection.
“Seduction” is a painting of nothing but a patch of shallow water where a few leaves float, but it’s an enchanted realm. Reality manifests here in distinct but interwoven levels. The leaves float on the water’s surface but cast sharp shadows on the sand below. Sunlight pours through the water and across the sand throwing long shadows of leafy branches, their luminous, soft edges contrasting with the crisp shadows of the floating leaves. Dancing on top are glints of reflected blue sky flickering through the silhouettes of more unseen trees. It’s a masterful balance of contemplative quietude and teeming life.
In these scenes where land and water mingle, Ramsey finds the fecund meeting place of biological and physical forces. It’s a liminal space, the threshold between worlds. Rhythm, light and color infuse her work with both activity and tranquility. The late summer’s breeze conjures daydreams and is the same breath that takes the meditator into realms of deep knowing. Here is the place where states of existence meet: aquatic and terrestrial, earthly and spiritual, reality and dream, where fertility is tangible and the possibilities are endless.
For information visit: www.massoniart.com
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