Reverie

paintings by Amanda Hood

Reverie
Acrylic and Graphite on Panel

32” x 48”

2019 

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Meditating on a spiritual and natural world, Reverie explores the sublime through atmospheric and organic abstractions. Inspired by journeys in the Pacific Northwest, paintings capture explosions of light streaming through trees, fire embers, and coastline. Mysterious and encapsulating, nature holds a sense of raw power.  As our environment changes rapidly, it is at once a place of stillness and renewal, destruction and terror. Abstractions seek not to re-create the landscape, but rather invite the viewer to engage in an experience of imaginative reverie. 

Frequently incorporating organic materials such a charcoal; a byproduct of burning, or twigs and dried leaves as part of the painting process, I am interested in capturing the sense of expansion, energy and entropy found in nature. Paint is allowed to pool, drip or resist in unpredictable ways resulting in a process that requires response. Creating layered surfaces that are both arbitrary and controlled, layers are gradually built to develop a sense of light and atmosphere.