Sarah Bedford
“Peaks & Valleys”



Exhibition: February 11 through March 14, 2009
Reception: Wednesday, February 11th, 7 to 9 pm

Somber and elusive yet playful, Sarah Bedford's new paintings mine a netherworld between abstraction and representation. Beneath a constrained palette of rock, light, heat and cold, her brooding, jagged mountains whisper, spurt and gurgle seismic activity, evoking a seductively hazardous aura. Drawing inspiration from her native Montana roots and love of Thomas Moran's depictions of Yellowstone Park, Bedford playfully deviates from the path of this tradition and its monumental tendencies in favor of a more personal, intimate vision. Fragmented images of lifeless trees, mica coated flowers and frozen rock collide with loose brush-stokes, delicate markings, dripped, taped and inter-woven lines, all of which disappear between loosely painted layers of rock and looming clouds. Airbrushed rays of light emanate from blackened suns or cracks in the earth, suggesting unseen forces and the desire for illumination as well as sensation.

Bedford earned her BFA from Cooper Union and also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Her work has been exhibited at various galleries and institutions including Clementine and Bellwether in New York City, the Hunterdon Museum in New Jersey and Yellowstone Art Museum in Montana.

Image: Sarah Bedford, “theotherendoftherainbow,” 2009, casein, acrylic & glitter on panel, 12 x 10 in.