Page 14 - In Memoriam

“T
landscape. Elizabeth Sloan Tyler manages to do both.
Atmospheric Evocations
By Jennifer Landes, The East Hampton Star, November 25, 2010
here are many painters who have been diligently marking up canvases to
capture faithfully the sights or just raw emotional feeling of the East End
Although her poured or painted works, with or without sand, may be abstract, they are truthful recreations of experiences of the landscape, even when they venture out of the directly perceived realm of color or place.
There is often a horizon line, but only when she is painting land or sea. Often she is painting sky or water and in those works it is simply recreated atmosphere, red and blistering in some cases, cool and apparently waterlogged in others.
In the gallery, the center wall is removed, opening up the space so that the paintings really breathe. It’ a stunning presentation to see so many of them obliterating the space that supports them.
Ms. Tyler won the 70th Annual Guild Hall Artist Members Exhibition in 2008, when Linda Yablon- sky, the art critic for Bloomberg News, was the juror. Howard Trafton, an instructor in New York City, introduced Ms. Tyler to Abstract Expressionism with a philosophy that echoed that of Hans Hoffman. He also incorporated the techniques and styles of African, Italian, and Greek masters.
Although she began in acrylic and collage, she eventually adopted oil as her exclusive medium and added texture with sand and seaweed after she moved to Long island. Sand was evident in more than a few canvases, sometimes densely applied and other times as a kind of highlight in certain areas of the work. The sand absorbs light and gives a kind of dull, matte texture. By contrast the paintings without sand seem purer and refract more light.
The works often seem moody. In the paintings of sky and atmosphere, one can never be sure if the subject is as broad as the universe or as minute as a drop of water. The names of the works are very evocative and point the viewer in the direction of the subject.
In “August Heat” from 2004, the sky is radiant. The contrast with “November Dunes,” placed right below it from 2007, is telling. The sky has shifted to a cooler and paler blue and the atmosphere has gone murky, the dunes giving off an autumnal chill. In both paintings and titles there are glow and fog, moon and sun, storm and silence and little disagreement about which is which.
Overall this makes for a satisfying and calming experience even when the canvases can appear violent in the weather they are trying to evoke. Lose yourself for a moment or two in this show. It should revive the spirit.”