The Cornwall Library is delighted to present an exhibition by celebrated process-oriented artist Don Bracken. Put simply, process-oriented means that the artist follows a three-step process: “discovering” materials in the world, for example, vines and sand actually existing in the subject landscape; combining those materials in the studio in unexpected relationships; and shaping them into a resolved artwork.
Bracken describes how he came to this technique: “In 2007 I was plein air painting with acrylics on canvas out on a farm in Weathersfield and I felt disconnected from what I was doing, and like…who needs another idealized landscape? So, out of frustration, I started mixing the soil from the farm with acrylic medium and suddenly I felt this visceral connection with the land.”
Going forward, he began to paint landscapes using soil from the Connecticut River Valley farms he was painting. The paintings became not just about the earth, but of the earth. As his relationship with materials evolved, he started using limestone, sand, vines, and other natural materials to create textural three-dimensional landscape paintings emerging from their own organic materials.
He still produces acrylic paintings, but his website also displays Ash Paintings, Clay Paintings, and Dirt Paintings. And he uses process-oriented technique to make the intriguing constructions under Sculptures and Installations.
Since 2010, he has created many of his landscapes with his own clay-polymer formula. Rather than remaining static on the canvas, the mixtures crack, shrink, and elevate as they dry—they are a living medium that allows nature a role as collaborator in resulting paintings.
Based in Cornwall, Connecticut, since the early 1980s, Bracken grew up in San Francisco and graduated from UC Berkeley. He came to the East Coast where he had a studio on the 91st floor of the World Trade Center, as an artist in residence. He has received many awards, and his pieces are in numerous American and international collections.
His work will remain on display until April 25.
