By Ann Nichols
annsnichols@aol.com
Landscapes, urban mosaics, whimsies, collages and drawings by Mary Britten Lynch are on display in “Etcetera,” the artist’s solo exhibition at Exum Gallery.
Through October, visitors can see 45 artworks created in the mediums of pencil, charcoal, watercolor, acrylic, smoke and found objects.
Extremely prolific and an admitted “multitasker,” Lynch does not concern herself with what’s next. Instead, she allows herself to be motivated by a visceral feeling of kinship to whatever subject she is pursuing at the time.
Her urban mosaics address industrial shapes.
“I love arranging and rearranging the geometrics I call urban mosaics, but I know when to move to another direction when they begin to look formulaic,” said Lynch.
She sees her landscapes as escapes.
“My inner child loves whimsies, which are work but also are a chance to smile and play,” she said.
Seascapes are also a recurring theme.
Two new works in the show may confuse people, Lynch added. “Fly on the Wall” and “Lewis’ Dropcloth” were inspired by her housepainter’s dropcloth.
“I am using it in sections and attaching photos I have taken as resource materials [I] never painted from but were naturals for this Jackson Pollack background,” she said.
Initially interested in being a realistic painter, Lynch abandoned this direction after critiques with Larry Rivers, Miriam Schapiro, Eric Fischl, April Gornik and Robert Dash. Encouraged to be true to herself, she says each gesture she makes intuitively is a response to the previous mark.
“With this building and filling in, I leave a concrete record of being true to myself and my ideas as a way of extending my chosen mediums and career,” Lynch said.
Exum Gallery, in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 305 W. Seventh St., is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call 266-8195.