Jill Goldman-Callahan: My aim is not just to depict, but to bestow. I aspire to the voice of an echo, the memory of stone, the secrets of water. Reminiscent of landscapes, fossil jewel diatoms and weather, my paintings, reference the reverie of internal terrain and infuse a palliative presence. My work is born in the conversation between enchantment and dissatisfaction, evolved in coalescing layers of spontaneity and discernment, landing on the intersection of intent and accident. Each painting is a recording of my time as pure responsiveness.
I use texture as language, Venetian plaster, pumice, rice paper, calk, crackle, carborundum and lime combine in my tactile surfaces culminating in an earned cohesion. My paintings are worn, scraped, stained and cracked, reminiscent of something old, ineffable and well loved. I make many of my own pigments, later combining them with traditional art products. Walnut ink is birthed when boiled overnight. Hammered desert stones relinquish pink powder pigment, permeating liquid poured over thirsty plaster. Crushed coffee beans exude textured browns and ash from my home fire generates graceful grays. The final patina reads as geologic atmosphere, a salient whisper to land, wind and water.
Madeline Lord, of ArtScope magazine describes my work as: ‘Her surfaces are worn, splitting, flaking, restless and what Jill calls “well loved”. Though her media includes disobedient ingredients like pumice, plaster and carborundum, her calming results are extraordinary and consistent. Her palette of muted pastels, metal sheens and designs that may include a quieting horizon or shapes that appear to whisper to each other is all magical. How she tames her rebellious media choices to achieve these peace emitting works is a miracle”.
Visitors exhale when they enter my studio. This visceral response is as important to me as narrative. My calming compositions and peaceful palette are a meditative invitation inviting you into the space between comfort and wonder. Ultimately, I just make paintings that I want to see.
Jill Goldman-Callahan is a contemporary abstract painter interested in mystery and process. She earned a BA in Fine Art and Anthropology from Bennington College and a Masters in Art Therapy from Lesley University. Jill has worked as an art therapist, art educator and studio artist. Thomas Moore, the best selling author of Care Of The Soul, describes her work as, “Not a painting of, but a peek into.” People who live with her paintings say they bring peace and meaning to their lives. You can find Jill experimenting in her studio at the Umbrella Arts in Concord Massachusetts or staring at a plant.
