October/November/December

2005

Two New Venues

I'm making a change! I have recognized the need to divide my creative workspace from my exhibition space. The new changes will be completed in early November – in time for the holiday season events. I will continue to maintain an exhibition space on Main Street in downtown Walla Walla. It's important for me to be in the heart of the community where I can be surrounded by the energy and excitement of the day-to-day. The new show space (located at 13 1/2 East Main Street, Suite 211) will primarily focus on intimately scaled works. Throughout the year I will unveil larger scaled works at the new Foundry Gallery located on the property of Walla Walla Foundry (405 Woodland Avenue). My new workspace will be located on the property of my private residence. This new venue will allow for greater focus and privacy. I'll develop paintings, drawings and small-scaled sculptures on site. I will continue to work at the Walla Walla Foundry when I am engaged in large-scaled projects. Give me a call the next time you're venturing about town and we can sit down and catch up over a nice glass of wine.

I am currently working on conceptual drawings and models for and installation of work that I am calling "Rising From The Fields Of Battle." At this stage I am seeking out potential venues for the exhibition and am developing plans for the fabrication of the individual works. The intent of this installation is to create a unique opportunity for dialogue about the perils and hopes of our common humanity. In creating a space that visually acknowledges the physical and mental devastation caused by war I hope to stir thoughts and questions regarding the need for common environments where humanity can find and explore our hope for the future. Humanity's history is continually rising from the rubble of war and conflict. This past century alone has seen numerous battles, insurgencies and global military escalation that have claimed the lives of millions of people. Some of the survivors were able to reconstruct their lives and spaces of living with a relative swiftness, while others continue to struggle to regain any semblance of normalcy to this day. Yet, regardless of their final outcome, there is a continual striving to rise up. Regardless of race, nationality, religion or sex, we all have a desire – an innate drive – that pushes us to simply fulfill our human experience with dignity.

"Rising From The Fields Of Battle" is comprised of multiple vignettes, each created from various materials and methods. Though many of the works are conceptual and non-representational, it is nevertheless a raw look at the realities of war, hate and indifference. It also strives to create a space where hope for our common humanity can be explored. The installation generates the unique opportunity for community discussions of the afore mentioned subjects. All viewers will have the opportunity to contemplate ideas and notions in an interactive manner. The environment will be created using common found objects, CNC technologies at the Walla Walla Foundry and time honored materials.

Winter Event Feature

Holiday Barrel Tasting

Saturday 11am-5pm

13 1/2 East Main Street, Suite 211

Broel will exhibit recent works at the downtown studio during the festive Holiday Barrel Weekend. Paintings, drawings, brozne and glass.

Exploration of Forms I'm often asked why I've chosen to use the specific images that figure prominently in my work. The truth is my reasons have changed quite a bit over the years. Initially, the fish, lemons, flowers and vases that I worked with were used as visual words to form "story" – a visual diary of sorts. The early paintings and sculptures spoke about what I had experienced in my travels around South East Asia. Over the years, my familiarity with the images has led me to interact with them differently. The initial images are now simplified and less defined. In many instances they appear to be polka dots, circles and soft-edged triangles. The forms, now reduced to their essence, can communicate well beyond their "representational worth." My interest is peaked by their ability to act as universal conduits of expression by moving an array of internalized ideas and emotions. It is my desire to create works that will engage the viewer to investigate the forms – forms that have peaked my imagination. Once there, I hope to inspire movement to levels far deeper than the visceral.

I enjoy reading about artists from history with the intent of gaining greater insight as to the depth and breadth of the artistic foundation on which my generation stands. The thoughts and words of Wassily Kandinsky have been enlightening and inspirational. Kandinsky was a Russian born painter who lived from the mid 1800's until 1944. He was an instigator and prominent member of Der Blaue Reiter – one of the most seminal visual art groups of the twentieth-century. Kandinsky stated, "I value only those artist who really are artists, that is, who consciously or unconsciously, in an entirely original form, embody the expression of their inner life; who work only for this end and cannot work otherwise." I hope you enjoy the thoughts of Kandinsky that I am including here from his book Concerning the Spiritual In Art. (Published by Dover Publications, Inc.)

"The spectator is too ready to look for a meaning in a picture – i.e., some outward connection between its various parts. Our materialistic age has produced a type of spectator or "connoisseur," who is not content to put himself opposite a picture and let it say its own message. Instead of allowing the inner value of the picture to work, he worries himself in looking for "closeness to nature," or "temperament," or "handling," or "tonality," or "perspective," or what not. His eye does not probe the outer expression to arrive at the inner meaning. In a conversation with an interesting person, we endeavor to get at his fundamental ideas and feelings. We do not bother about the words, nor the breath necessary for speaking them, nor the movements of his tongue and lip, nor the physiological effect on our nerves. We realize that these things, though interesting and important, are not the main things of the moment, but that the meaning and idea is what concerns us. We should have the same feeling when confronted with a work of art. When this becomes general, the artist will be able to dispense with natural form and color and speak in purely artistic language."

Studio Interior (with still life and sculpture)

oil on wood panel

35.25" x 77.75", 2002

This painting was started in July of 2002 and was finished in December of the same year.

"When I was creating this piece it was my aim to capture the essence of the daily activity in my studio as well as my internalized thoughts and emotions which revolved around the solitary act of painting. I was not the least bit concerned about the accurate representation of the space or image – in fact I wanted to bring all of the elements forward to interact on the surface. It was my aim to make an interesting painting – not simply to mimic reality. The rhythm of the bold, aggressive mark-making is balanced with larger subtle color fields to achieve surface and internal harmony." - Squire Broel