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A psychic drama about to unfold
Treacy Ziegler's "Before An Ocean' at F.A.N.
"I hope paintings (any paintings) work like this… that they tell you more than you can ever know."
I've been a fan of Treacy Ziegler's haunted landscapes for many years, so each time she returns to F.A.N. it's like catching up with an old friend again. When I first encountered Ziegler's work it seemed much starker, like the setting for some rural film noir. It also occurred to me that—leaving The Old Ones out— she would have been a natural choice to illustrate the horror/fantasy novels of H.P. Lovecraft. If her paintings aren't set in Dunwich, then they're set in the next town down the road from it.
But in this large new exhibit (27 paintings, from circular four-inch snapshots to hefty triptychs) Ziegler seems to move into surrealism, or at least the world of dreams. (A statement attached to the exhibit avers that several of the pieces are dream-inspired.)
As is customary for this artist, she divides her pieces between landscapes— really more studies of vacant-looking houses surrounded by ominous trees— and interiors that appear to be the stage settings for some psychic drama about to unfold. When you see a raven perched on a chair back, and it's not an illustration to Poe, it must mean something.
I always find Ziegler's landscapes most involving. They're usually fairly simple affairs— Precipice, for instance, shows a cabin on the edge of a cliff with those ominous trees towering over it— but their very simplicity is a little bit threatening. In a larger, more complex work, like the dream-inspired Remains of Paradise, she can make the presence of a street light seem like an abomination.
Treacy Ziegler's art may not be for everyone, but it's certainly my cup of tea.
I've been a fan of Treacy Ziegler's haunted landscapes for many years, so each time she returns to F.A.N. it's like catching up with an old friend again. When I first encountered Ziegler's work it seemed much starker, like the setting for some rural film noir. It also occurred to me that—leaving The Old Ones out— she would have been a natural choice to illustrate the horror/fantasy novels of H.P. Lovecraft. If her paintings aren't set in Dunwich, then they're set in the next town down the road from it.
But in this large new exhibit (27 paintings, from circular four-inch snapshots to hefty triptychs) Ziegler seems to move into surrealism, or at least the world of dreams. (A statement attached to the exhibit avers that several of the pieces are dream-inspired.)
As is customary for this artist, she divides her pieces between landscapes— really more studies of vacant-looking houses surrounded by ominous trees— and interiors that appear to be the stage settings for some psychic drama about to unfold. When you see a raven perched on a chair back, and it's not an illustration to Poe, it must mean something.
I always find Ziegler's landscapes most involving. They're usually fairly simple affairs— Precipice, for instance, shows a cabin on the edge of a cliff with those ominous trees towering over it— but their very simplicity is a little bit threatening. In a larger, more complex work, like the dream-inspired Remains of Paradise, she can make the presence of a street light seem like an abomination.
Treacy Ziegler's art may not be for everyone, but it's certainly my cup of tea.
What, When, Where
“Treacy Ziegler: Before an Ocean.†Through November 28, 2009 at F.A.N. Gallery, 221 Arch St. (215) 922-5155 or www.fanartgallery.com.
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