Molly Wensberg Artist's Statement

M c G O W A N F I N E A R T
GALLERY CONSULTING FRAMING

  Corporate Art Consulting

  Exhibits

  Artists

  Framing and Conservation

  Blog

  Contact Us

  Home

Updated: 8.7.2007

MOLLY WENSBERG

I've been drawn to the honest simplicity of the New Hampshire landscape since I moved here in l998. The traditional New Hampshire landscape is changing so quickly; barns, farms, and fields are interspersed with newly developed sites and we are losing the rural quality of the state. These farms are so distinctly New Hampshire they typify the historical and traditional qualities that are an integral part of the state's unique character.

From the time I began painting my inspiration was the landscape and it continues to capture my interest with its continual offering of an infinite range of possibilities. As my view of the world evolves so does my painting; they are inextricably intertwined. In that way, the paintings become a medium for self-expression, not just representation. It is my goal that the work represents a sense of the landscape rather than specific local information. I want you to hear the quiet, smell the cut fields, and feel the cold, the damp, or the warmth. Though the paintings are seemingly quiet, and you might at first think that nothing is going on, you are also made aware of the subtle forces of nature, which are always at work. I remind myself constantly of the expression, 'less is more.' What is left out of the painting is as important as what is put in. In a world so filled with visual noise and clutter, I feel there is a strong need for still, quiet places where the mind can rest. I hope these paintings foster that notion.

Barns have a particular appeal to me. They become so much a part of the landscape and seem to exude human aspects and personalities. These qualities are constantly changing with the light, weather and season. A structure that may have been somewhat uninteresting one day can suddenly strike a chord that inspires a painting. The trick is to hold on to that initial feeling, or impulse, and transfer it into paint. Last summer, I discovered an area in Pittsfield, NH, where there are stretches of active farms with views that remain open and unchanged, as they've been since the early 1800's. I spent the month of September painting small studies in this location and returned several times during the winter. Most of the paintings in this show are the result of those visits.

“It can be said of romanticism, just as it can be said of the imagination, that it can never effectively touch the same thing twice in the same way.” Wallace Stevens

April 2004