BLANCHE NETTLES POWERS
Exhibition Details
BLANCHE NETTLES POWERS
Structure of Comfort
June 18 - August 29
Reception: Thursday, August 13th from 5-9pm
Laney Contemporary Fine Art is pleased to present Structure of Comfort, an exhibition of recent work by Savannah-based artist Blanche Nettles Powers. The exhibition is on view from June 18th to August 29th. A reception will be announced for early August.
Process-based, semi-monochromatic paintings explore the dichotomy of intention and accident, through the action of painting, with the goal of comfortable resolution. The title of this exhibition has been appropriated from Katharine Kolcaba’s theory Taxonomic Structure of Comfort , also known as Comfort Grid . This medical nursing theory is used to assess and provide comfort to hospitalized patients. The grid is composed of “Type of Comfort” (relief, ease, and transcendence) and “Context in which Comfort Occurs” (physical, psycho-spiritual, environmental, and sociocultural). (Kolcaba)1 The exhibition title is in reference to the comfort that caregivers provide during our current unprecedented time of Covid-19. The title also correlates to the grid structure of fabric. Swatches of fabric and images of handwoven carpets are used as reference material, as an entry-point into the paintings. Thin layers of oil paint are applied and scrubbed into the surface, emphasizing the irregular weave and nubby texture of the linen. Layers of paint are wiped away and new layers applied. Initial marks, made with rags, brushes and pours, rise to the surface and intertwine with fresh marks. In time, a new warp and weft emerges. Early phases of the work are no longer visible, however the painting holds the memory. Surfaces of the paintings are thin and translucent like aging human skin. Drips and pools of paint on the edges reveal bits of history. Each work is in vertical portrait format, mirroring the stance of the viewer. The larger paintings of this series are human scale, inviting one to enter the space and to reflect in meditation.
The structure of fabric is understood by the artist as a metaphor for community or society. Individual threads come together to form the whole. Nettles Powers associates fabric swatches with childhood memories of her mother, endlessly engaged in sewing projects. As a result, textiles have an inherently feminine connotation for the artist, rooted in memory. The titles of the paintings are names of women of note, who have come to her attention during the period of making the work, as a record of time. Some names are fictional characters, from novels or films, while others are women from current events, journalists, literary artists or musicians. These paintings are essentially about the role of visual art as part of the provision of comfort for any viewer, so often a pleasurable experience. The pleasure through resolution of process is also apparent, as the tension between intention and accident, eventually reveals an unanticipated comfort through repetition, structure, pattern, and association.
1 Kolcaba, Katharine. “Kolcaba’s Comfort Theory.” Nursology , Nursology, 9 Sept. 2018, nursology.net/nurse-theorists-and-their-work/kolcabas-comfort-theory/. Accessed 25 May 2020.
Webster, 2020, oil on linen, 42” x 32”
