For more than a decade, the work of Kolman & Pryor Gallery artist Jodi Reeb—which features layered acrylic and encaustic (beeswax) painting methods with abstracted nature-based imagery—has struck a chord with discerning collectors. Many of Reeb’s works have also found homes in a variety of healthcare settings. In preparation for her new Kolman & Pryor Gallery exhibition, Harmonic Components, Reeb delved into the aspects of her work that people find calming or healing. She then took a more mindful, research-based and intentional approach to creating new work that emphasizes the harmony she creates between color, material and form. Harmonic Components runs from April 16 through May 14, 2016 and includes a free artist reception on Saturday, April 23, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
“Through exploration, I’m taking a more intentional approach to how my awareness has been guiding me in creating harmonious works over the years,” Reeb says. Scientific studies show that visual art—especially nature-based and abstract art with references to nature—can reduce stress and anxiety. “A newfound balance between research and intention has informed the work in this show,” Reeb adds, “as I’ve consciously incorporated healing aspects—imagery, color, material, pattern and form—into the new work that will have general appeal.”
Balance and harmony are integral aspects of Reeb’s new work, says Anita Sue Kolman, co-owner of the Kolman & Pryor Gallery. “The qualities that make Jodi’s artwork so compelling—the creative processes that bring multiple layers of materiality and meaning to her work, the patterns that reference the natural world, her color palette reflecting the four natural elements—also result in calming works that collectors love to bring into their homes and offices.”
The new work in this exhibition reflects the natural world in process, approach and materiality. Using the homebuilding material of bees, Reeb layers melted beeswax on sustainably obtained wood, incorporating acrylic paint and metallic paints that oxidize. The torch she uses to melt the beeswax brings fire into her process. The paint splatters she incorporates into her work reference the cleansing aspect of rain. Her color palette reflects earth, air, fire and water.
Through this approach, Reeb “discovers relationships between the elements creating rhythms, patterns and visual textures that are nature-based as well as abstract. Over time, contrasting or common elements form connections, and as each work evolves it gains an identity that reflects process, positive and negative space, and dimension.”
“I’m hoping visitors will have a multi-sensory experience as they walk by these pieces,” Reeb says, “as the colors mutate and shift, and as viewers look between and deep into the layers. My intention, during the making of the work and while exhibiting it, is that enjoyment is possible for those who experience the art through observation and contemplation.”