Art & Critique » Jacquelyn L. Berl (Ascender)

Jacquelyn L. Berl: Pointillist Pieces

elijah — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:02:54 +0000

I see these images as engravings of dreams. Pixelated and disintegrating dreams, they morph one into the other and then dissipate, dot by dot, until awakening. The pieces in front of us capture the last most vivid vision. In fact, this brings me to the notion that one possible way to recall dreams forgotten right after the awakening moment could be by dots — a simple and elegant solution! The lack of lines deprives the viewer of a continuous visual reference, hampering focus; as a result the paintings appear to be covered by a gauze (made of the innumerable microscopic white dots), which further enhances the dreamlike quality.

This black and white, stripped version of pointillism is interesting from a purely technical point of view. The style of painting intended to mix colors inside the beholder’s mind rather than on the painted surface, endures the transformation: the portraits in Berl’s artwork display a heightened psychology, the darkest areas being eyes and mouths — the most expressive facial features. The artist makes a point (pun intended) that this painting technique is best suitable for portraiture and, I find it difficult to imagine still life, landscape or other genres benefiting similarly from such experimentation. But “never say never,” they say.

Another notable trait is the unsteadiness of the images. The white here does not originate from the sun but rather from some supernatural source — I’m thinking in the direction of imagination, unless you believe in ghosts. Even the girl, whose arm is visibly placed on a hard surface, probably a table, appears to hover, threatening to near the viewer, out of the frame, or, correspondingly, withdraw into the two dimensional world in a zoom out effect. Perhaps it is not coincidental that some of Ascender’s pointillist pictures feature Indians posing and dancing (in a way, the epitome of unsteadiness) in traditional wear — possibly exorcizing.

Yet still, in a somewhat contradictory turn, the simplicity of black and white provides a degree of robustness to the paintings as a whole. To sum up, in her pointillist works the artist appeals and stimulates the viewers’ fancy as effectively as she does in her collages and “scatterlings (c).” Conceptually, her work contains many parallels to a wonderful film I watched last year, “Pan’s Labyrinth:” there is the reality, often harsh, and the magic, sweet and comforting, but occasionally horrifying. Similarly to that movie, Ascender eschews easy “happy endings” and challenges us with aesthetically complex and inspiring works of art that fulfill on the visual, psychological and imaginative levels.

Jacquelyn L. Berl: Collages

elijah — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:23:05 +0000

Ascender’s collages present liquid and mystical, often downright unreal surrealism (I know how strange that sounds) with consistently incorporated urban insignia and allusions. It would probably be correct to say that the latter is organized in the manner of the former — and so the artist may be communicating her take on modern life, proponing both chaos and hierarchy. Ascender composes an original visual idiom when intermixing those. Because the art form included contemporary icons and symbols from its inception, composition and organization have taken on extra creative value — and the artist discovered her own language while maximally exploiting it. The result is a series of captivating works of art.

Universally captivating, I should say. I learned from the Discovery Channel that human brains are programmed to recognize faces, that there is a specific part of our brain designed just for that particular task. I could not say if Jacquelyn Berl watched the same show, I could guess that she didn’t, but her collages show an intuitive understanding of that concept nevertheless. There are faces, mostly female and attractive, that constitute the visual framework of the each piece. The viewer is being lured into the world of a particular collage by a scientific proxy, only later to realize that the temptress has a particular artistic meaning. Well, that’s not surprising. Artist are always one step ahead of the scientists, no matter what the latter might claim.

The generally monochromatic backgrounds, either cool and dark, or hot red instill a hypnotizing and relaxing, maybe even a drugging effect. The light, (though scarce) appropriately blurry and milky, concentrates on the edges, as an afterglow. Additional recurring motifs include masks and religious sculptural inlays. The sum of these elements creates a whirlwind of subconscious impacts, most of which, I personally find difficult to isolate and define — and this is the part of the appeal of the viewing and interpreting experience. It’s like taking a plunge into an oozy river, or, just sticking one’s toes in it — depending on the viewers’ commitment.

However, I think that the two mentioned basic qualities, though mixed, remain easily identifiable, reminding of the duality and the edge of our condition: we dwell in socially and physically (architecturally) structured environment, yet host ghosts, prejudice and anxiety in our psyches, and homes. Personally I find relief in such acknowledgment of the human condition. “Life is complicated,” the collages imply, and one cannot but agree. Once again I drift towards social commentary, but perhaps this is the most appropriate place for one — there are people and houses — all the prerequisites of what we know as “society.”

Jacquelyn L. Berl: “Scatterlings”

elijah — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:46:19 +0000

Jacquelyn L. Berl (also known under the artistic monicker “Ascender“, see more works on her website and blog) is a versatile and prolific artist with a strong drive towards finding an original signature style. She creates art with a seemingly unlimited assortment of media, fusing various schools and trends into a conglomerate body of work. I would categorize her style as gravitating towards the surreal, often with fabulous qualities; it characterizes in various degrees her mixed media works, collages, ink, watercolor and oil paintings. To my mind Berl achieves best results with the more combinative efforts, and while the more traditional artwork exhibits engaging pristine and figurative qualities, it is in the more complex and “dirty” pieces that her creative potential finds a unique outlet.

Viewing the “Scatterlings (c),” which, according to the artist, “combine actual foliage with watercolor and color pencil mediums” is a rich and magical experience — not surprising considering the “mythical animals and fairies” populating these pieces. In a way it replicates the ritual of reading a fairy tale to a child: each night the infant would ask for another reading of the same story and each time the story would sound different. It is possible to see each scatterling as a meta-illustration of a fairy-tale, existing or not. Perhaps even more radically, each piece is indeed a fairy tale, only of a visual kind. This would make sense considering the arduous process, taking up to a year, of making (”writing”) them.

Technically they may be seen as Pollock’s logical continuation: he painted while putting the canvas on the floor, letting gravity participate in the process, and Jaqueline similarly alludes to gravity, which forces the leaves and the plants she uses down to earth. Thus she may be proposing an idealized artistic view of the physical world around us, everyday objects being the media and the ground they rest upon the surface. But even without this allegory, her artwork bears a purely visual resemblance to abstract expressionism, all the while retaining the concrete form of the inserted magical characters (visit her blog for close ups) — the result is a fascinating surreal mishmash.

Clever use of perspective, compositional rhythm and color toning, combined with actual flora creates a bewitching effect of three-dimensionality. I cannot decide whether the artist panders to the younger audience by incorporating real objects, seeking to emulate depth with actual depth on the paper, but it certainly appeals to the child in me, evoking an inner smile. I also think that it is this kind of works of art that more than usual encourages children to want to become artists — it could be the appeal of using objects found in nature, something every playful kid does as a matter of fact anyway.

Art & Critique » Jacquelyn L. Berl (Ascender)

Jacquelyn L. Berl: Pointillist Pieces

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Jacquelyn L. Berl: Collages

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Jacquelyn L. Berl: “Scatterlings”

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