Art Articles & Reviews

} K. Gwen Frank:Printmaker draws from her prairie environs and her past By Paul Constable When I arrived at her door, the afternoon sun was in full force and streamed in the southern exposure of her Calgary studio. Her intaglio press centered itself in the space and became the focal point of the room. To one side is a hand crafted oak case, made by her father, with a bank of many narrow drawers with brass pulls that house her finished proofs. As we talk she pulls certain proofs to best depict her more recent work. Frank’s work is meticulous. The love of drawing comes through in her subject matter and intaglio is the perfect medium for her to express her feelings and ideas. Her awareness of the subtle bite of acid on the copper etching plate gives way to soft coloration, which enhance the intaglio aquatint and linear grooves. Dramatic build ups of shadow and texture accentuate the impact of her mostly monochromatic palette. As a prairie girl growing up in Saskatchewan, you can see the profound effect that the land has had on her imagery. Many of her images are rural based - buildings, people, crops and even animals. These are all intimate moments that relate to one another in the context of prairie life. Her work personifies the rhythms of a place remembered. Open spaces, the turn in the road, the crop on the way to town – a melee of cats lapping up milk in the barn. These images reoccur not so much as themes, but more as metaphorical quilt, which help her understand her past and sensibilities as an artist. Recently she was reunited with her birth son Peter, a profound, positive event that will continue to enrich her life and the future direction of her work. Her work consciously or unconsciously absorbs her emotions surrounding search and reunion, which are often tempered and enhanced by the beauty of the imagery. We discuss the meaning of one of her more recent pieces, “Reunion I”. Here is a piece that congers up the turmoil in her life, upon finding her birth son Peter. Initially she thought he was on the West Coast, hence the unsettled ocean with a wave crashing against a nondescript dark rock positioned in the center of the image. The dark sky is set against the ocean with a horizontal band of golden grain in the foreground, in anticipation of an impending storm. There is no merging of prairie and ocean. A definite horizontal division suggests two different worlds colliding, each showing their strength. The cool dark tonal variances of the water and sky, juxtaposed against the warm textural crop, add to the tension. A light aquatint of ochre is applied over the mature stand of grain that bends receptively in the foreground. This touch of warmth gives you hope of the coming harvest. When I asked if she was a landscape artist, she said “no”. She explains the landscape is a very familiar and powerful metaphor through which she conveys her message. The sophistication of Frank’s work can be summed up by a knowing smile, the kind that curls up at one end of your mouth, saying “Yeah - you got it right girl”. Earlier works had more of a whimsical edge to them, but as time distances her from her youth on the farm, a less naïve and more poetic universal undertone is wove into her later works. K. Gwen Frank graduated with honors from ACAD (Alberta College of Art and Design) in 1983 and continued her fine art education through the University of Calgary. She holds a BFA in Printmaking. Gwen Frank’s work can be found at the Scott Gallery in Edmonton, Alberta and at Open Studio in Toronto. You may contact K. Gwen Frank by e-mail at [email protected] _________________________________________________ Paul Constable is the Director of Artists In Canada. He is a Painter / Printmaker and Senior Graphic Designer for an Advertising and Communications company in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Paul Constable can be reached by email HERE. His paintings may be viewed at: www.ArtistsInCanada.com/pconstable. Your suggestions for future articles are welcome. _________________________________________________ © 2003 ArtistsInCanada.com