Tina Ingraham “Sight Specific,” Greenhut Galleries, Portland, Maine
Portland Press Herald Arts Review by Jorge S. Arango, September 20, 2020
Virtual doesn’t suffice. Tina Ingraham’s paintings must be experienced in person
Behind the unabashed romanticism of her work lies serious skill and technique.
Behind the unabashed romanticism of her work lies serious skill and technique.
Following is an excerpt from the review. “Exhibition materials quote her as saying, “A look through a viewfinder divides my vision of the subject into fractions, and I clearly see where strong contrasts meet. I mark those on the canvas with charcoal.” Only then does she begin troweling paint on with her palette knife. This underlying architecture of the paintings stabilizes the potential idealism, giving the works a strong sense of form and composition.
The scrape of a palette knife can also leave scratched areas, and the variation in application — from thin washes of paint to crusty daubs — animate the surfaces with texture, imparting a corporal sensuality that elicits a visceral response from the viewer….
The best paintings, subjectively speaking of course, are “Sand Flats” and “Low Tide.” They are not just deftly rendered. The large expanse of simple natural elements (water, marsh, sand and sky) somehow telegraph the beautiful poignancy of nature at rest. Nothing stirs; all is quiet and peaceful. The size of these also feels enveloping and embracing, helping us immerse ourselves in the landscape; Like the best Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings — Monet’s water lilies, Cezanne’s still life and his views of Mont Sainte-Victoire, Degas’ “The Absinthe Drinker” — there is an emotional dimension to the subjects that stirs sweetness and a subtle melancholy.”