about the
exhibition
Marking a dramatically different new direction in her work, the paintings featured in 'Under the Water and Into the Woods' blur the line between memory and imagination, the autobiographical and universal. Constructed layer by layer using thin applications of oil paint, sprays, and oil glazes, the depth, light, and atmospheric tension is palpable in the distinctive ecosystem of each painting. These lusciously layered, process-based paintings contemplate the points where the hyper-personal intersects with the collective in a shared experience of time, nature, and the journey of finding our place within it.
artist statement
“Water is a symbol of life, purity, power and transformation. The work exploring these themes started with flow and sprays, the action of painting staying intentionally loose. Using these fluid pigments guided the compositions to build on to itself. In the What Lies Under the Lake pieces, the work started with broad brush stokes mimicking mountains and valleys. As I looked at the pieces, I realized I was more interested in the peaks that lay under the surface. I flipped the work 180 degrees and could see the bottom as the beginning rather than the end. The layered drips and seaweed-like forms are pulled down by gravity instead of growing towards the sunlight. Flipping the composition so life begins and then transforms to meet in the middle.
Wood is a symbol of vitality, expansion and growth. The woods are a place where I go to feel alone and be quiet. In the painting Tree Trunk w/ Chandelier Vines I had this pull to paint something I had seen and experienced many times in the woods, jungle and rainforest. When a tree is dying or unwell, leaves and vines start to form from a place in the trunk that still has some life. The vines hug the limbs and grow twisting and layering on top of one another until you can barely see the dead branch. The mass that grows becomes a frame or a cast to protect what has given it life. I invite the viewer to take the journey with me in both places that support exploration and experimentation of the unknown.”
- sage tucker-ketcham
about the artist
was born 1978 in Vermont. Tucker-Ketcham received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Painting from Maine College of Art & Design and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Sage lives in Charlotte, Vermont.
Sage Tucker - Ketcham is a contemporary landscape oil painter, her work investigates intentional and psychological relationships between color, form, and space. These paintings are process driven with an emphasis on composition and color theory. They are constructed layer by layer with attention to high contrast color combinations and the color palette is observationally inspired by interesting atmospheric moments.