Event
C. Ursula Cipa: beyond which the sun can do no morePost an Event »
Interface Gallery
April 1 - April 26, 2015Info
480 49th Street Oakland, CA Google Map »Reception
April 3, 2015 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Interface Gallery is pleased to present, beyond which the sun can do no more, a solo exhibition of paintings by C. Ursula Cipa.
Over the last twenty years, Cipa has been exploring color in her work. Typically, she creates painted panels of a single color, often juxtaposed with one or more such panels. Satisfying purely as minimalist offerings, the works also reflect Cipa's interest in the way a simple color can carry symbolic and psychic content and trigger deeply embedded memories and feelings. Cipa draws inspiration from references to color found in rich and varied sources, from personal memory, literature and poetry to the sciences, and even law.
Her incredibly smooth panels with their rich and vibrant color, feel contemporary and fresh, yet stem from a rigorous, traditional formal process. She seals the surfaces of her wood panels, then applies gesso and sands it, repeating this numerous times. Cipa then applies a sandable oil ground and finally very thin layers of paint, cold wax medium and solvent until she achieves the surface color she's after. She views her implementation of the core elements of painting as a discipline, which she likens to meditation - reducing everything, thus elevating the purest, most basic elements for contemplation. In this case, her perfectly smooth surfaces offer an unadulterated experience of color. The resultant works are highly rewarding, whether we intuit greater emotional depths or enjoy a purely surface experience.