<span>A Bridge Between Cultures</span>
Suzanne Benton: Metal Masks, Monoprints, Portrait Boxes & Face Paintings
American artist Suzanne Benton first worked and traveled in India in 1976 as part of a year long artist’s voyage throughout the world. While having shared her work in 28 countries, India is the land that has truly entered her spirit and her art. Lured back for a fourth art-making/friend connecting South Asia journey, Benton is revisiting the changing light from dawn to dark, the mix of birds, abundant plants, astonishing trees, web of traffic, colorful shops, vibrant displays of patterned fabrics, mix of dusty wares, and most of all, the expressive faces of people. This panoply of images and encounters feeds her art.
With a deep interest in Indian myths and epic poems, she finds delight in naming works after heroes and heroines of the past, names still charged with hope and symbolic meaning and filled with ancient worlds once inhabited. During her March 4-28 exhibition at the American Center, viewers will discover mystical and magical faces in her Metal Masks, Portrait Boxes, and newly created Face Paintings. As a colorist, Benton suffuses her monoprints and works on paper with a meditative power with compositions freely drawing upon Indian miniature painting. Visitors will be rewarded by this dedicated artist’s ability to bridge an American sensibility with a learned Indian sensitivity.
Suzanne Benton: Metal Masks, Monoprints, Portrait Boxes & Face Paintings
American artist Suzanne Benton first worked and traveled in India in 1976 as part of a year long artist’s voyage throughout the world. While having shared her work in 28 countries, India is the land that has truly entered her spirit and her art. Lured back for a fourth art-making/friend connecting South Asia journey, Benton is revisiting the changing light from dawn to dark, the mix of birds, abundant plants, astonishing trees, web of traffic, colorful shops, vibrant displays of patterned fabrics, mix of dusty wares, and most of all, the expressive faces of people. This panoply of images and encounters feeds her art.
With a deep interest in Indian myths and epic poems, she finds delight in naming works after heroes and heroines of the past, names still charged with hope and symbolic meaning and filled with ancient worlds once inhabited. During her March 4-28 exhibition at the American Center, viewers will discover mystical and magical faces in her Metal Masks, Portrait Boxes, and newly created Face Paintings. As a colorist, Benton suffuses her monoprints and works on paper with a meditative power with compositions freely drawing upon Indian miniature painting. Visitors will be rewarded by this dedicated artist’s ability to bridge an American sensibility with a learned Indian sensitivity.
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