Spirit in Motion

            When most people look for art, they look for something that moves them. Well, how about looking for art that does that and actually appears to move? In local artist Beverly Decker’s latest show, “Visual Meditations / Abstract Calligraphy”, that is what you will find: paintings that have an enticing appearance of motion and a message to move your soul.

Through a technique of combining abstract with realism, Beverly Decker carves out a distinct niche for herself in our art community. The 643 Project Space gallery opening welcomed art lovers to look at an impressive volume of work consisting of various sized paintings, prints and books.

While some might find Decker’s work slightly over-whelming at first, her intricate layering techniques are worth taking the time to wrap one’s mind around. Decker first paints her subjects using an acrylic luminescent medium, and then continues to overlay it with one or more spirals of continuous lines of calligraphy. This skillful combination portrays simplicity in its subject manner but complexity in execution, resulting in a powerful effect of drawing one into the artist’s work with multiple tools in order to convey a message.

With a closer look at the paintings, one can read quite clearly what they literally say to us against the blurred image of the subjects. Yet when viewed from afar, the organic forms of the calligraphy shift out of focus, and the image in the background becomes prominent. The collection whispers a theme of simplicity, and is anything but. The phrases Decker uses all originate from a Buddhist entreaty, “With the thought of love, joy, peace and compassion”.

The contents of this show are quite bold despite the overall peaceful theme. The images on which they are places all reflect the text; things one might associate with Buddhism, peace, love and nature. Images of flying birds, the cosmos and dancers populate most of her canvases in an intense color pallet. Using her calligraphy spirals Decker fashions impressive illusions of movement on the already moving subjects creating an optical allusion of actual movement. If the motion of both text and subjects isn’t enough to suck you in, the sensation of light radiating from them will, as the paint is luminescent. That means the paint actually exhibits light, and depending on the light in the room, will have a different look at different times of day.

In Visual Meditation #3732, a small bird appears to be fighting a strong wind as it flies upward, overlain with a grid of six different spiraling quotes. This whirl of energy causes one to see the force of the wind as well as the power ushering from the wingspan. The swirls of calligraphy on top of subjects in motion seem to cause a strange sensation resulting in a delightfully dizzying effect from afar.        

           Beverly Decker’s “Visual Meditations / Abstract Calligraphy” is showing at the 643 Project Space Gallery in Ventura from August 5th through the 26^th and is now available to view by appointment only. This intensely moving collection is worth the time and the meditation it takes one to completely view and absorb these pieces.

Beverly Decker at SBCC
Beverly Decker's Website