ELENORE WELLES
"BROKEN DREAMS"
Catalogue Essay for the show
"BROKEN DREAMS"
Catalogue Essay for the show
2007
"BROKEN DREAMS"
By Elenore Welles
Daena Title’s paintings focus on the dialogue between the art itself and the various perspectives from which those paintings are viewed. The political and the cultural are as important as the personal and the aesthetic.
Title grew up near New York City where she developed an appreciation for the arts through frequent visits to the city’s many museums. The rich collections of the MOMA, the Whitney, and the Frick museums were particular favorites.
Her absorption of art historical precedents stems, also, from her formal studies of art history, (BA Wellesley College). Possessing a high degree of social consciousness, she borrows freely from art movements that evoke a sense of purpose, bringing to them her own political and moral concerns. She is particularly drawn to the allegorical inclinations of the Neoclassicists, to the fracturing of space of the Cubists, and to the combination of realism and romanticism found in the French Symbolists. By applying new interpretations to this deep well of historical ideologies, Title achieves a distinctive synthesis of the ideal and the sensual.
Further emotive resonance is attained through the distinctive blending of old world techniques with tumultuous color theories. Notably, she combines a Cézanne-like build-up of forms with the explosive colors favored by the Fauves. In an era when conceptual elements and photo-shop techniques reign supreme, Title takes pleasure in the rich sensuality of paint and luminous pigmentation.
Going beyond the obvious and superficial, Title invites viewers to search for multi-leveled meanings. Historically based figurative traditions are embraced, but her impulses are not necessarily bound by them. Indeed, the political and psychological essences that run through her body of work are intensely personal. Though her brushwork and intense chromatics are emotionally charged, they play against an ironic tenderness and kinship toward her subjects.
Through a nuanced visual lexicon, Title effectively explores prevailing myths about American women, often resulting in unexpected revelations. “Phyliss and Kubla,” for instance, is a double portrait of her mother holding her cat. She is a woman fractured by the societal constraints of a 1950’s housewife. Captured in momentary reflection, she is lost in a world of unresolved yearning.
Contemporary women have access to widening opportunities, but they come with added anxieties. Title’s narratives navigate the precarious balance between their strength and vulnerability, effectively blurring the lines between personal, cultural and political tensions. She portrays women in flux, a reverberating restlessness embedded in their physicality. In ambiguous dream visions, mind and body achieve mobility as figures fly, float or fall in transcendent space. Reminiscent of Classical imagery, yet feminist in spirit, they hover in an ether world between conflicting emotions. Their unresolved issues are companions on their transitory journeys.
In spite of a prevailing discomfort, Title’s women are propelled toward the world of the indeterminate. In “Night Fall,” for example, the figure floats in her nightgown over a darkened landscape. Like a Pre-Raphaelite goddess of transition, she registers anxiety as she drifts toward the unknown. Unease travels, also, with those who fly. In “Heartland,” the figure soars toward freedom, her yellow complexion a reflection of the landscape below. The desire is for weightlessness, but flight is not without peril, particularly when there is no magic carpet for support.
Title’s other degree in Theater Arts plus her later theatrical experience, contributes to her heightened sense of drama, It is particularly evident in works preoccupied with death and mourning, both personal and political. The fall into the abyss arrives when the two meet in a resounding clash. She is unapologetic about her use of art as a forum for political concerns. She mourns, for example, the loss of American idealisms. Further, her disappointment with an American election evolves as a compelling condemnation in “11-03-04.” Part prophecy, part chilling evocation of a free fall, the palpable torment of a falling figure reflects back on our own fears. Vigorous yellow and red brushstrokes reinforce the sense of dread.
Reaching beyond physical realities, Title exposes emotional states such as fear or hope, definable at times in accordance with romantic and classicist motifs. In the text that runs through “Bargaining,” for example, she strives for earthly salvation by poignantly negotiating for control over loss. The search for deliverance is prevalent, also, in “Escape”, where oversized hands reach beyond an enveloping fragility.
The apotheosis of those desires play out in “Witness,” where the search for transcendence comes full circle. Rhythmic, prismatic planes radiate from a central diaphanous figure. Ascending toward the light, she reaches for the source of infinite existence. The text of a living will weaves through the image. Finality, however, remains elusive, as the signature of the witness has yet to be applied.
To a significant degree, Title’s narrative elements are leant support by her impressive use of formal tools. The fact that her women project a visceral tension is testament to her technical and aesthetic skills at rendering the human figure.
In the spirit of 19th century Symbolism, her captivating paintings are a modern, urban connection to Paul Gauguin’s “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” A continual search for answers remains the embodiment of Title’s works.
2007
By Elenore Welles
Daena Title’s paintings focus on the dialogue between the art itself and the various perspectives from which those paintings are viewed. The political and the cultural are as important as the personal and the aesthetic.
Title grew up near New York City where she developed an appreciation for the arts through frequent visits to the city’s many museums. The rich collections of the MOMA, the Whitney, and the Frick museums were particular favorites.
Her absorption of art historical precedents stems, also, from her formal studies of art history, (BA Wellesley College). Possessing a high degree of social consciousness, she borrows freely from art movements that evoke a sense of purpose, bringing to them her own political and moral concerns. She is particularly drawn to the allegorical inclinations of the Neoclassicists, to the fracturing of space of the Cubists, and to the combination of realism and romanticism found in the French Symbolists. By applying new interpretations to this deep well of historical ideologies, Title achieves a distinctive synthesis of the ideal and the sensual.
Further emotive resonance is attained through the distinctive blending of old world techniques with tumultuous color theories. Notably, she combines a Cézanne-like build-up of forms with the explosive colors favored by the Fauves. In an era when conceptual elements and photo-shop techniques reign supreme, Title takes pleasure in the rich sensuality of paint and luminous pigmentation.
Going beyond the obvious and superficial, Title invites viewers to search for multi-leveled meanings. Historically based figurative traditions are embraced, but her impulses are not necessarily bound by them. Indeed, the political and psychological essences that run through her body of work are intensely personal. Though her brushwork and intense chromatics are emotionally charged, they play against an ironic tenderness and kinship toward her subjects.
Through a nuanced visual lexicon, Title effectively explores prevailing myths about American women, often resulting in unexpected revelations. “Phyliss and Kubla,” for instance, is a double portrait of her mother holding her cat. She is a woman fractured by the societal constraints of a 1950’s housewife. Captured in momentary reflection, she is lost in a world of unresolved yearning.
Contemporary women have access to widening opportunities, but they come with added anxieties. Title’s narratives navigate the precarious balance between their strength and vulnerability, effectively blurring the lines between personal, cultural and political tensions. She portrays women in flux, a reverberating restlessness embedded in their physicality. In ambiguous dream visions, mind and body achieve mobility as figures fly, float or fall in transcendent space. Reminiscent of Classical imagery, yet feminist in spirit, they hover in an ether world between conflicting emotions. Their unresolved issues are companions on their transitory journeys.
In spite of a prevailing discomfort, Title’s women are propelled toward the world of the indeterminate. In “Night Fall,” for example, the figure floats in her nightgown over a darkened landscape. Like a Pre-Raphaelite goddess of transition, she registers anxiety as she drifts toward the unknown. Unease travels, also, with those who fly. In “Heartland,” the figure soars toward freedom, her yellow complexion a reflection of the landscape below. The desire is for weightlessness, but flight is not without peril, particularly when there is no magic carpet for support.
Title’s other degree in Theater Arts plus her later theatrical experience, contributes to her heightened sense of drama, It is particularly evident in works preoccupied with death and mourning, both personal and political. The fall into the abyss arrives when the two meet in a resounding clash. She is unapologetic about her use of art as a forum for political concerns. She mourns, for example, the loss of American idealisms. Further, her disappointment with an American election evolves as a compelling condemnation in “11-03-04.” Part prophecy, part chilling evocation of a free fall, the palpable torment of a falling figure reflects back on our own fears. Vigorous yellow and red brushstrokes reinforce the sense of dread.
Reaching beyond physical realities, Title exposes emotional states such as fear or hope, definable at times in accordance with romantic and classicist motifs. In the text that runs through “Bargaining,” for example, she strives for earthly salvation by poignantly negotiating for control over loss. The search for deliverance is prevalent, also, in “Escape”, where oversized hands reach beyond an enveloping fragility.
The apotheosis of those desires play out in “Witness,” where the search for transcendence comes full circle. Rhythmic, prismatic planes radiate from a central diaphanous figure. Ascending toward the light, she reaches for the source of infinite existence. The text of a living will weaves through the image. Finality, however, remains elusive, as the signature of the witness has yet to be applied.
To a significant degree, Title’s narrative elements are leant support by her impressive use of formal tools. The fact that her women project a visceral tension is testament to her technical and aesthetic skills at rendering the human figure.
In the spirit of 19th century Symbolism, her captivating paintings are a modern, urban connection to Paul Gauguin’s “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” A continual search for answers remains the embodiment of Title’s works.
2007
