Newburyport Art presents a Featured Artist solo exhibition by member artist Deb Desmond Meserve: Saltwater Grounding.
-
“Growing up in Massachusetts in the 70s and 80s, being blinded by the flash cubes of my mother’s Kodak Instamatic, it is amazing I can even see at all. Soon she was packing a Polaroid One-Step camera, with an equally blinding flash bar, and instantly shaking our images to life. Photography was always present. Lucky for us, many of those photos were snapped on Plum Island where our summer days were scented with salt air and Coppertone and moved to the soundtrack of a roaring tide and its crushing undertow.
My father, an offset cameraman, taught me an appreciation of the well printed black and white photograph. He often brought home beautiful picture books of old movie actors and classic architectural works of Boston. I still have a great fondness for collecting books today and an inability to stop myself from marveling at brilliant light and shadow patterns.
In the late 80s, I studied at the New England School of Photography in Boston. From there, I went on to work as a photojournalist for a string of newspapers and freelance publications in and around Boston, before I ultimately found myself moving to Maine.
Over the years, I have owned a commercial photography and portrait studio, become a custom picture framer, created a local art gallery and exhibited my work in New York City, Los Angeles and throughout New England. My career has spanned many decades of change in the industry and I have continued studying photography along the way at the Maine College of Art as well as various seminars and conferences.
About a decade ago, I decided that I wanted to get my hands dirty
again like I once did in the darkroom, so I set out to experiment with mixing mediums.
My latest endeavor involves mounting archival digital photographs on cradled birch panels and painting the surface with encaustic wax medium. I then carve and manipulate that wax surface while using a heat gun to fuse and spread the wax. Pieces are enhanced with an infusion of oil pastel, oil pigment sticks and loose powdered pigments.”
~ Deb Desmond Meserve
-
Grounding occurs when the body encounters the Earth in its natural state. Our bodies and cells have electrical energy composed of positive electrons. Walking barefoot results in an energy transfer and connects our physical body to the Earth’s electrical energy flow. When our bare feet connect with the ground, we interact with the negative charge of the Earth, creating a personal balance and realignment of our wellbeing.
Salt water, an alkaline water, is an ideal conductor of electrons and is rich in minerals like magnesium, iron and potassium. Sinking our feet into the ocean floor, feeling the sea’s rhythmic motion and hearing its sounds, calms our nervous system, relieves stress and soothes our muscle function. Nature heals and restores contentment.
Taoism counsels us to live our lives like water, inviting us to flow quietly but persistently around obstacles.
Taoism emphasizes a Flow State referred to as, “Wu Wei”.
A spiritual and active state where we become one with the activity we are engaged in, losing ourselves in the process, and experiencing heightened focus, increased creativity and clarity. A practice of embracing one’s own true nature. An act of letting go.
“Forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless.”
~ Chuang-tzu -
“Encaustic Beeswax is melted down to a liquid form on a heat palette. The wax is then painted onto the mounted photograph, while simultaneously using a heat gun to keep the wax moving. The surface is then hand carved and shaped by using various scraping tools. Warm malleable wax allows paints and pastels to be infused into the surface. Cooling in between times of heat locks in the various oil pastels, oil pigment sticks and loose powdered pigments used in creating the artwork. Wax hardens as it fully cools and often has a hazy bloom that adds to the mood of the work.”
~ Deb Desmond Meserve
-
Be sure to join Deb at the Opening Reception on Friday, April 5th (5-7pm). The reception is free and open to the public with light refreshments provided!
