In the Moon River Tango Series, the colors are intense and flow beyond the boundaries of the abstracted shapes. These shapes are inspired by the bush cow women in African Art, who dance with the bush cow mask with their pertruding bellies. These dances ward off the bad behavior of the animals who live in the bush, like the black monkey. The grid represents the connection between the Divine and humanity. The large, bulbous forms represent the generations of women in my family, from my great grandmother, who comes from Kiev, to my granddaughters, Clea and Cordelia, who are not yet born when these are painted.
The paintings emerge from poems written for each generation. The poem for my grandmother Matilda Skloff Gardos, is the first, as she plays a major role in my life. I call these women paintings my Feminine Harbors, lighting up life’s darkness along the way. Two of these Feminine Harbors are exhibited in Tregastel, France in 1996.
Swan Pool
The Swan Pool Series develops out of Moon River Tango. Still pushing the rivulets of paint into the entanglement of sea water and vegetation, I am unconsciously expressing my earlier years of being a respiratory therapy technician in various hospitals. This reveals my awe in studying anatomy and physiology.
My husband, Brian, and I make several trips to the ocean at Chincoteague, Va. Upon earlier visits, there is a section of bay filled with swans. It thrills me to see the swans basking in the morning sun on our way to the ocean. This series is about that spot, where the swans no longer rest. The hues are intense and the rivulets are entwined. There are no swans.
