Entangled Pairs: Andrea Sulzer

January 12 – May 5, 2018

Maine-based artist Andrea Sulzer employs a wide range of materials and media— from ink on aging newsprint to acrylic on traditional stretched canvas—in the assortment of works featured in Entangled Pairs. Sulzer’s process often involves deconstructing works and then reuniting the elements in an inventive and fresh way. Sulzer states “It’s a constant pull between building a foundation and dismantling it, always trying to get closer to the underlying rhythm of and motivation for making work.” For the artist, the studio is a fertile ground for improvisation and experimentation and this unfettered spirit is reflected in the works assembled in the exhibition.

In Through and Through, long strips of tracing paper printed with original woodblocks are sewn together in a coil-like configuration to create the contours of the snout-like form. Remnants of the vivid reds, blues and yellows used in the patterned blocks create an exuberant rhythm throughout the work that extends almost two feet from the wall. In several paintings, the artist has created portals that frame these imagined landscapes and flora. Sulzer combines expansive swaths rendered in off-white tones, expressive gestural passages, and a seemingly frenetic tangle of lush green vegetation. 

Funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

 

andrea one 1spacercorrect orientation sulzer blob 2

 

 

  1. Andrea Sulzer (American, born 1961), Detail of Through and Through, 2017, Oil based printer’s ink, acrylic, charcoal, pastel and Sharpie on tracing paper, thread, Courtesy of the artist, Photo: Luc Demers
  2. Andrea Sulzer (American, born 1961) All Your Colors, 2017, Oil based printer’s ink, acrylic, charcoal, pastel and Sharpie on tracing paper, thread, Courtesy of the artist, Photo: Luc Demers