Wed 7 Jul 2010
Transillumination by Bette Burgoyne at Vermillion Gallery
Posted by Marlow Harris under Art , Exhibits , OpeningsNo Comments
Transillumination by Bette Burgoyne at Vermillion Gallery, opening July 8th 6-11pm
The show runs July 8 – July 31, 2010 at Vermillion Gallery on Capitol Hill 1508 11th Avenue.
By definition, the word Transillumination is the transmission of light through tissues of the body.
Transillumination is a series of work by Bette Burgoyne where she uses white Prismacolor pencil on black paper to create an ethereal landscape of shapes. She says, “Each drawing is a reinterpretation and combination of observations made from looking at many things; clouds, rocks, erosion, light, mammal ears, leaves, fur, waves, lichen and science illustrations of electromagnetic fields . The lighting in the drawings is oblique, like the light during sunset or moonrise. It is a time filled with portent and possibility, just before the night begins. Each new piece of black paper is a little dark night that I beam some light into.”
Bette Burgoyne was born in Seattle in 1959. After graduating from Cornish College of the Arts in 1986, she moved to San Francisco and spent 10 years practicing and teaching art. Bette earned an MFA from Mills College, California. She taught at several places, including San Francisco Art Institute and California College of the Arts.
Bette’s solo exhibitions at New Langton Arts, Southern Exposure, Mincher/Wilcox and Headlands Center for the Arts were reviewed positively by art critics Kenneth Baker and David Bonetti. Her work has been featured in many group exhibitions, including A Labor of Love at the New Museum NYC and the touring exhibition New World (Dis)Order. Among Bette’s awards and residencies have been the Veronica di Rosa Residency Award at Headlands Center for the Arts CA, Tread of Angels Fellowship at Djerassi Foundation CA, Watkins Award at New Langton Arts SF, and the Boudreaux Cadogan Scholarship at Mills College.
After her return to Seattle, Bette purchased a giant roll of black Canson paper and has been cutting it and drawing on it ever since. The current exhibition at Vermillion, Transillumination, is a presentation of drawings made within the last 12 months.
