Date: Fri 07-Aug-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Amy-Rowan-artist-Burnham

Full Text:

Amy Rowan's View Of The World Around Her

(with photo)

BY SHANNON HICKS

BRIDGEWATER -- Amy Jean Rowan doesn't see the world the same way most people

do. She feels things more intensely than most, and looks for life in objects

most consider inanimate. A chair, to her, is something waiting for a life to

sit in it. A bird that has been hit by a car, whose wing feathers flutter from

the breeze of a passing car, is brought back to life after death, even if for

just a moment.

The 22-year old Bridgewater resident has always searched for life, and its

beauty within. She has always assembled things, has always enjoyed drawing. As

a child, she would take beads and other discarded objects and create little

pieces of art. Elementary teachers at The Burnham School recognized her need

to create, and encouraged the undeveloped talent. Today, Amy is in a

transitional stage. After two years at Northwestern Connecticut Community

Technical College, where she earned what she calls a "marketable degree"

(associate's) in graphic design, Amy is getting ready to leave for Chicago in

the fall to begin studies at The Art Institute.

To mark and honor this important interval -- ending one segment of her life

and beginning a dedicated career as an artist -- the Burnham Library in

Bridgewater is presenting an exhibition of over 40 pieces of the hometown

artist's work during the month of August.

A collection of works by Amy Jean Rowan entitled "dead birds" is on display

through August 29. Although the show is already on view, a formal opening will

be held Friday, August 7, from 6-9 pm at the library. The show is also a

stepping stone for the young artist, as it is her first solo exhibition.

"dead birds" is a collection of work assembled from pieces Amy has done in her

own time as well as assignments from her college classes. The collection

offers viewers an array of mediums, including charcoal drawings, Polaroid

image transfers, sculpture and paintings both large and small scale.

Even the invitation for the show is an intermingling of two of Amy's works. On

the front of the postcard announcing "dead birds" is a Polaroid image

transfer, done by Amy, of a sculpture entitled "Unspent." The transfer was

done earlier this year specifically for the invitation; the sculpture is a

work of 1997.

One of the sculpture pieces in the show is called "Aviary." It may not be up

for very long. To the left of the large fireplace that dominates much of the

front reading room of the library is a doll hung upside down on an iron hook.

One of the doll's eyes is half-open, the other is closed. Within the tangled

mass of the doll's black hair are small birds.

Apparently, a patron was recently asked by her young daughter why the doll was

hanging upside down ("dead birds" has been on view since July 28). The woman

told a library employee she felt uncomfortable having her daughter see such a

display, and she was unable to explain its meaning to the youngster. In

addition to this circumstance, the library has received comments from

additional patrons who feel the work is unsuitable for its surroundings. The

library board has asked Amy to remove the sculpture from the show.

"I really don't see [the problem]," the artist said last week. "There are

other doll-related works in here, and I see no difference between this and any

of the other works. But I'm glad they came to me and asked me about removing

it rather than just doing it before talking about it with me first."

The dolls and femininity are two recurring themes Amy sees in her work. A

vegetarian, she says she is naturally drawn to things that are oppressed, such

as the animals that are raised and then killed solely for the purpose of human

consumption. The femininity theme is expressed in a pair of works that were

purposely hung next to each other for the Burnham show. The painting "this

small" offers the image of a woman's face on the body of a spider, and

"stilettos" shows the shapely lower leg of a lady wearing a pair of the heeled

shoes.

"We are such creatures of habit," Amy said, going on to explain most womens'

automatic reaction to seeing a bug -- to stomp on it, flatten it with a

magazine or newspaper... to kill it. "Anytime I see a bug, I want to pick it

up and take it outside and set it free," she countered.

Also included in "dead bird" is a series of six Polaroid transfers. The series

is Amy's reaction to learning of the Iconoclastic Controversy. The controversy

was a movement in the Eastern Empire that ended the early Byzantine period.

Headed by the emperor, the violent debate denied the holiness of religious

images. During the Eighth and early Ninth Centuries, the use of such images,

or icons, was prohibited, but icons were restored to worship by 843.

"I was amazed at the amount of power people gave to [icons]," Amy stated. The

six transfers vary in their depictions of icons. Some are clearly presented,

while others are more obscure.

The fascination with photography came while Amy was still in high school. It

was during these years she learned about photography and composition, and

began to see that "art" was a lot broader than she had realized as a child.

"It isn't just landscapes and pretty pictures. I began to see art could be

more abstract than what I had thought."

A two-year part-time job with the photographer Laurie Klein, who has a studio

in Brookfield, exposed Amy to the medium. Ms Klein, who does much

black-and-white infrared photography, impressed Amy with the degree of

manipulation the medium allows. Eventually Amy took an image transfer class at

Brookfield Craft Center. But once she entered Northwestern Connecticut

College, she began to feel a pull back towards fine art.

"While photography was more accessible for a while, and I enjoyed it because I

was seeing immediate results," she said, "I really enjoy the painting and

drawing more. I need to get my hands dirty." The large scale line drawings and

paintings on view attest to Amy's love of working with paints and inks.

Remaining in tune with nature and the environment, she also enjoys working on

odd-sized pieces of canvas, or discarded pieces of cardboard, instead of the

perfectly stretched canvases many former Northwestern classmates coveted. This

intentional use of recycled or broken goods returns to Amy's intense inner

feelings of naturalism, or being closer to nature and using what is available

rather than seeking perfection in something man-made.

The artistic world of Amy Rowan is about as diversified as the environment

that surrounds her. Teachers have already told her some of her work is of

"museum quality." Before she goes off to Chicago, area residents now have the

opportunity to discover the world of Amy Rowan and decide for themselves if

they can enjoy it, whether or not they understand it.