Art and Alchemy

There and Not There
Rust Portraits by Esther Solondz
April 10 - June 6, 2010
Members' Preview Reception April 8

Esther Solondz Flora McIvor, 2010

Esther Solondz cultivates her rust portraits as she would a seed garden, mixing the right combination of materials with water, preparing the surface and then settling back to wait for images to germinate. “I like to think that the figures literally emerge from the rust…the image grows by itself,” says the artist.

Solondz used steel wool, iron filings, salt and water applied to cotton paper to create the heads featured in “There and Not There: Rust Portraits by Esther Solondz.” She begins with an under-drawing, then traces the lines with iron. Applying salt and water facilitates the oxidization or rusting process. She says, “Rust is usually seen as something that breaks down material, but here it builds up to leave a beautiful image.”

Solondz studied photography and film, but most of her work over the last decade has been about the constant transformation that simple materials like soap, mud, seeds, salt and iron undergo. “I like the idea of taking organic materials and seeing what will happen to them.”

Most of Solondz’s rust heads are based on old anonymous photographs she has collected. Solondz doesn’t match her titles to the people in the photos. Can you guess the origin of those names? (HINT: Solondz is a gardener.)

Join us on Friday,April 8 for a Members’ Preview Reception from 5 – 7 pm.

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