Patricia Watwood: Myths and Individuals - Solo Show

As part of our ongoing series of engaging Teaching Studios faculty about what is happening in their careers: Workshop and Visiting Instructor  Patricia Watwood has agreed to share some thoughts about and images of artwork from her solo show at the Forbes Galleries that opens this week.
	Patricia Watwood: Myths and Individuals Notes from the Artist Myths and narratives are important tools that humans use for sorting out our relationships to each other and to the world. In this body of work, I am seeking the individual and personal contained within our myths, and conversely, seeking the universal within the individual. I construct images that invite the viewer to contemplate, connect, and find relationships. I wish my paintings to be visual poems awaiting your interpretation.
	Tradition has nothing to do with the past. To follow a tradition is to embrace a manner of working in which the values and aspirations of the past are continuous with those of the future. I do not chase the past. I chase what artists in the past have also chased—a celebration of the human form, a passion for and humility before nature, a belief that metaphor and narrative can help us puzzle out the mysteries of our time here on earth, and a belief in the emotional power of the common visual language of representation.
	My figures and portraits are designed to convey the beauty and stillness of the visual world. My paintings travel through worlds of mythology, allegory, and contemporary human life. They reflect my search for meaning, and fulfill my desire for spiritual connection with my subjects and viewers. The exhibit shows over 30 paintings and six drawings, spanning over 10 years of time. Patricia Watwood: Myths and Individuals February 17 to June 9, 2012 The Forbes Galleries 60 Fifth Avenue at 12th St. Manhattan Free, open to the public 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Tues-Sat. Thursdays open to groups by appt. 212-206-5548 Catalogues are available from her 2011 solo show at the St Louis Universtity Museum of Art, $20 each (plus tax and shipping). Please contact us at info@teachingstudios.com for more information.