Rose Umerlik is a contemplative, soulful painter in her mid 30's; a visibly strong woman, in body and spirit, who appears to be one of the lucky ones who never had to search very far to find her voice. A serious injury, however, that led to surgery in 2013 forced her to find out what she was truly made of. Umerlik had to push through major physical and emotional challenges to keep working, and the result was a deeply personal collection of paintings that opened a new door for her.
There is a sweet sensitivity about Rose that makes her very accessible, but don't mistake that accessibility for a lack of vitality. Her determination as an artist clearly trumps her fears and obstacles, and she uses her tools to work through them like a machete. Rose is receptive and open, and has obvious access to her "truth". She paints the essence of what is happening in and around her, and we are left to interpret the beautiful forms she leaves behind.
Rose Umerlik starts her pieces with lines, loosely gesturing with a graphite pencil to capture the emotion she wants to relate. She absorbs the line – like breathing in an idea or a feeling – and then begins to layer the piece as the line dictates the soft forms that will become the skin. The lines appear, disappear, and reappear; they take us on a journey through the work. Sometimes an entire field of color will be covered with a new color, but glimpses of the line and perhaps the former hue that surrounded it will still be visible underneath. It is as if she is trying to show you where the story leaves off by first showing you how she got there. There are typically focal areas of tangle, tension, compression, and even chaos. These areas are tempered by expanses of soft color; and though these areas are resting places for the eyes, in Umerlik's opinion, these spaces hold an enormous amount of the work's energy. Her inclusion of black and grey, which she tends to use liberally, takes some guts, but she combines what can be imposing weight with her subtle palette in a way that is almost reminiscent of Georgia O'Keeffe's work. The combination is arresting, and beautifully balanced.
Another interesting detail about Umerlik's work is that she actually articulates the process of each piece in a sort-of "work diary". In September of 2010, she spent a month in a residency program at the Vermont Studio Center. She found herself lingering in her studio with more time than she was used to having, and she began writing about the individual pieces. What started out as an effort to archive and catalogue her work evolved into more exploratory writing about it.
In her words, "For the open studio event at the end of the residency I wrote out these texts on paper and tacked them up next to each piece. This approach of pairing my work with the texts was well received. More people paused and spent time with the pieces. As the evening progressed, more and more people came up to me and said that they were making connections and seeing things in the work that they may not have without the text. This experience encouraged me to continue writing about my paintings after I returned home.
In the months that followed, keeping a painting journal became a natural part of my studio practice. Through the writing process, which encouraged self-reflection and honesty, I noticed that I was beginning to unearth the less conscious motivations and sources of inspiration for my work; ideas and feelings that I had not been as keenly in touch with before. I began to see that each painting has a story, a history.
The Sam and Adele Golden Foundation℠ for the Arts, Inc., New Berlin, NY.
Full fellowship awarded in support of a month-long residency.
Lecture given on contemporary art from Berlin, Germany.