Saoirse reviews The Hill Gallery:

“Even physicists get it wrong when they confidently assert that color is just a wavelength of light.  My usual quick answer to that is I can take any wavelength and make it appear almost any color.  That’s because color is not something out there in the world, separate from us.  The agreed-upon technical definition of color is that it’s a visual perception.”

Mark Fairchild Rochester Institute of Technology [full titles in footnote]

The Hill Gallery is a stylish building in stark white on the water front.  This month the gallery’s installation is by Hillany Scofield, Resident. Recommended light for viewing is any, the white of the gallery keeps the images fresh at all times of the day.  With the midnight, the glittering water that permeates the gallery with the soft white, there is a more somber feeling.  At all times it seems quiet and peaceful to enter.

That quiet peaceful facade gives your mind time to empty properly to absorb the images as you walk around.  Spending time with each one to feel where it might take you.  The artist images are crisp in their presentation, and I feel the artist must have taken much care in setting up her shots, as well as in deciding which ones are here today for us to view.  There is water throughout the gallery, quietly present as it feels as if the gallery itself is a building floating in shallow water.  There are a couple of images that are two stories tall placed uniquely off the courtyard viewing area.

The first part of the installation is a four walled presentation, center of a courtyard.  The walls are not attached though in a rectangular shape, viewers may enter on any corner.  Curiously placed for the consideration of the viewer is an over sized white shirt, men’s, or a similar article of clothing off to one side.  It is bunched up and seemingly tossed there carelessly.  I can tell from the rhythm of this artist that nothing is careless, and I consider how this fits into my perception of the pieces surrounding it.

Black and white is one of the colors of choice here and she uses it well.  One image I like a great deal has a female figure looking at an image within the image. What is most striking to me about this image is the ever so slight shading she has captured to give this image depth.  It is so good that the image the female figure is looking at could also be a stage commanding greater depth of field.  It is contemplative, thoughtful as the slight tilt of the primary female figure’s head indicates many feelings within me.  Perhaps she is not meant to see the scene, many things stir and that is exactly what I want from an image.  Talent draws you in and keeps your mind moving when you view an image.

There are female nudes, both single and two figures in some images.  When you see an artistic nude you should see a beautiful image of the nude figure and then the little something extra, the artist’s flare.  Some images have her figure partially dressed, so that is for consideration.  Why and what is missing or visible?  The artist’s selection of where and how much of stark black or stark white in a image is perfect here.  In one image I see a female figure in a skirt or a dress from behind with heels.  All of the clothing is in muted yellow, the remaining image is in the back and white.  She is hunched forward in a pose, barely standing from the appearance of her legs.  It is her shadow that is truly haunting.  Bulbous and oddly shaped make me consider the meanings.

There is an image of a woman looking as if she is examining her hand or perhaps putting it out with her head lowered.  All I can see of her face is her slightly downturned chin, lips and bottom portion of her nose.  The shadows on this image look almost painted on perfect, angular with some fading as it draws further away from the camera.  The figure is in color, though muted, and lips are shadowed but a soft red.  The main background is dark to a green, yellow horizon point.  The feeling I get viewing these images as I walk around is one of angles of color presentation and female figure.  Some with color to emphasize either the colored area or the reverse of that area.  The lines are sharp and the shading is beautiful.

This is an excellent installation to view for anyone, if you are one who favors black and white in mediums, this is a “must see” exhibit.  For me the images of the movement of and placement of the floor and the figure remain steadfast in my mind.  Artistically yours; Saoirse Heart

Location of gallery:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cafemar/221/27/21

Quote above taken from Mark Fairchild, Associate Dean of Research & Graduate Education, College of Science, Professor & Director, Program of Color Science/Munsell Color Science Laboratory, Rochester Institute of Technology [RIT]