Gwen Manfrin

This current body of work is comprised of mixed media paintings and drawings. Thematically, I am exploring human emotions, specifically, moments of unguarded angst. I am striving to capture a barely concealed instant of despair or pain that resonates with all of us.

The person we convey to the world is often a “created” image, one that has characteristics that are desirable, but not necessarily honest. It is what we want our footprint of self to say to others. In that “costume”, intimate, more personal glimpses, slip into view, and we are caught “out” at the very times we are in the process of concealing. A gaze, a turning away, can reveal raw emotions, as does a confrontational stare at a moment of insecurity. What we use as a skin actually reveals more about us, and is apparent in body language, attitude and attire.

The figures in these paintings are all costumed in some way, my mother’s honeymoon negligee, my father’s racing silks, a ballerina’s tutu. The curlers are also a costume of sorts, changing one’s hair to be the perfectly coiffed or, just different than natural. In an earlier generation, the bathing caps were worn by our mothers, to simulate their” just so hairdo”. The caps had ridiculous flowers or decorations to give dimension to their heads while in the water, thus disguising a seemingly unattractive moment, and attempting to hide what’s underneath.

Wynne Hayakawa

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I paint on wood, using broad putty knives and coarse brushes. The wood is strong and firm; I can push hard on it. I put paint down in layers, like geologic sedimentation. I pour solvents on vertical surfaces; they move pigments in the way that water erodes earth.

I try to make each painting a conversation of colors. Color provides both unity and tension within the painting. I hope to make a vibration of color that resonates within us.
I use line to activate the space of the painting. I want to create places where we, the viewers, can exist for a while. This place is the visual “space” of the painting.

My job is to bring some of the outdoors inside—some sense of the colors, textures, space, and light of the natural world. I paint to raise the issues of earth, light, water, and air, and keep them in our consciousness.