Claudia Kleefeld - PATTERNS OF NATURE: The Spiral and Interconnectedness

T h e S p i r a l a n d I nte r c onne c te d ness

P a tt erns

o f

N aturE

:

ISBN 978-1-4675-0664-9 “The Eye of a n I s l a m i c B o y ” , O i l o n l i n e n , 9 -1/ 4 x 1 2 i n c h e s , 2 0 1 1

Mission Statem ent : Wo man Mad e G all ery s upports, cul tiva tes and pr omotes the di verse c ont ributions of wo men in the arts t hr o ugh exh ibitions an d othe r programs tha t serv e, ed uca te an d en ri c h the c ommu nit y. More tha n 7000 w o m en hav e e xhibited thei r ar t a t WMG since 1992. WMG is a tax- exem pt, not- fo r-profit o rga niz ation .

woman made gallery 685 North Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60642, USA Tel: 312-738-0400

www.womanmade.org

March 2 - April 26, 2012 © Claudia Kleefeld 2012

www.kleefeldart.com

ISBN 978-1-4675-0664-9

Front Cover: “Logarithmic Spiral of life”, Oil on linen, 16-3/4 x 21-3/4 inches, 2011 Right: “Book Spiral”, Books, Floor to ceiling 8’, 2011-12

T h e S p i r a l o f L i f e : S y mbo l o f N a t u r e ’ s C osmo l o g y

Throughout the history of Modernism, critics have struggled to define the essence of art and its connection to this Earth that gives us life. At the fin de siècle, renowned writer John Ruskin argued that art must hold itself to a certain “truth to nature.” For Ruskin, J.M.W. Turner’s romantically sublime landscapes were a balm for an urban population that was becoming more and more separated from its ancient connection with Nature. Through paintings like Turner’s—impassioned, monumental, and awe-inspiring—individuals could reconcile their deep-seated wonderment about the Earth as a Natural and potent environment with the pollution and filth they found in their new urban surroundings.

In the mid-twentieth century, the Abstract Expressionists drew from nature to create non-objective works that conveyed the existential angst of post-World War II generations. Undeniably beautiful, the New York School’s content allows its viewers to have an experience that is nearly religious precisely because the subject is no longer mere representation, but, more profoundly, the process of seeing as an act of insight and discovery.

“Melting Butterflies (dreamwork)”, Oil and conte on paper, 22-1/2 x 30 inches, 2010

Consider works by Mark Rothko, with their horizon lines dividing fields of sheer color into the land and the sky. Although he did not compose his canvases with this exact meaning in mind, Rothko somehow gets to the core of our very human need to be transformed from our mundane selves into beings, touched with holiness, as pure as the original inhabitants of Eden— to return from culture to nature. More directly, the Earth artists—in particular, Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty (1970)—used the land itself to create monumental artworks about the ongoing change that is Nature as it unfolds before us.

From Claudia Kleefeld’s objects found in nature to her drawings and paintings to the books she reads for inspiration—referenced in her book-spiral installation—her art’s focus is multi-layered, a dawning comprehension that

comes

through

investigating

our

common

experience as human beings. The artist’s work is about process; she labors methodically, thoroughly journaling her ideas and breakthroughs, to understand the hermetic laws of nature encoded within this primordial, cosmological form that represents creation and destruction. For her, the sacred geometry of the spiral is the musculature underlying the creationforms of life. The spiral functions like the double helix of our very DNA—it is everywhere, reversing and repeating itself in a divine infinity of creation, transformation, and re-creation. From fossils to fractals, the spiral’s symbolism is recognized by us from deep within a shared, prehistoric consciousness.

For several years, Kleefeld has delved into the meaning and form of the spiral, initially led metaphysically

through a dream about melting butterflies. She had long been incorporating text into her drawings and paintings; the dream led to her vision of the next leg on her never-ending path as an artist. States Kleefeld, “By invoking the spiral… I aim to reconnect others and myself to nature, causing a collective remembering of sacred and recurring forms.” 1 Notations from her journals are included in the exhibition catalogue, making clear the extensive process of Kleefeld’s research and findings.

The exhibition includes “Found Nature Objects,” literally objects from nature that express the poignancy of the notion of the interconnectedness of being. Baby pine cones convey the duality of male and female through the double spiral; a papery-thin, delicate wasp’s nest; seashells, rocks, and segments of trees—all these heighten the sense of wonder that surrounds the working of the spiral in our mundane world.

Kleefeld’s drawings, from the simple yet marvelously elusive Unspoken Time , with its text and calligraphic red spiral to Seahorse and its subtext of the universal principle, “As above, so below,” exist beyond their function as objects. Rather, Patter ns of Nature serves as witness to the ubiquitous and transcendent form of the spiral. The recently completed paintings Sunf lower (double) Spiral and the Logarithmic Spiral of life burst with the joy that underlies our universal awareness of Nature as Source.

— Kathryn M Davis

1

Fr o m t h e artist’s statement.

THE SPIRAL AND INTERCONNECTEDNESS

sacred and recurring forms.”[ 1 ] Notations from her

journals

are

included

in

the

exhibition

catalogue, making clear the extensive process of Kleefeld’s research and findings.

The exhibition includes “Found Nature Objects,” literally objects from nature that express the poignancy of the notion of the interconnectedness of being. Baby pine cones convey the duality of male and female through the double spiral; a papery-thin, delicate wasp’s nest; seashells, rocks, and segments of trees—all these serve to heighten the sense of wonder that surrounds the working of the spiral in our mundane world.

Kleefeld’s drawings, from the simple yet marvel ously elusive Unspoken Time, with its text and calligraphic red spiral to Seahorse and its subtext of the universal principle, “As above, so below,” exist beyond their function as objects.

Rather, all of the art in Patterns of Nature serve as witnesses to the ubiquitous and transcendent

:

form of the spiral. The recently completed paintings

NATURE

Sunflower (double) Spiral and the Logarhithmic Spiral of life burst with the joy that underlies our universal awareness of Nature as Source.

PA T T E RNS

OF

— Kathryn M Davis

1

F r o m t h e artist’s statement.

“unspoken time”, Conte on paper, 22-1/2 x 15 inches, 2010

“unspoken time�, Conte on paper, 22-1/2 x 15 inches, 2010

Pa t t e rns

of

N a turE

:

T h e S p i r a l a nd Int e r conn e ct e dn e ss

“diary of dead bones 1. Word Spiral written in reverse�, Conte on paper, 22-1/2 x 30 inches, 2010

“Seahorse”, Conte on paper, 22-3/4 x 15-1/4 inches, 2010-11

“dead bones 9. Cyclone Storm”, Oil on linen, 10-1/2 x 13 inches, 2011

“Islamic Boy’s Eye”, Oil on linen, 16-3/4 x 21-3/4 inches, 2011

“Roping Tornado�, Oil on linen, 10 x 16-1/4 inches, 2011

“diary of dead bones 6. Spider’s Web”, Conte on paper, 15-1/4 x 23 inches, 2010

“diary of bones 3.� Conte on paper, 15 x 22-3/4 inches, 2010

“diary of dead bones 7. Fingertips”, Conte on paper, 22-3/4 x 15-1/4 inches, 2010

“diary of dead bones 5. Andromeda Spiral Galaxy�, Conte on paper, 15-1/4 x 23 inches, 2010

“Spiral Motion Universe�, Oil on linen, 16-1/4 x 10 inches, 2011

“Spiral Motion Universe”, Oil on linen, 16-1/4 x 10 inches, 2011

“Meeting the Universe”, Oil on linen, 20-1/2 x 15-1/2, 2011

“Meeting the Universe�, Oil on linen, 20-1/2 x 15-1/2, 2011

“Blue Ringed Octopus”, Oil on linen, 8-1/4 x 11 inches, 2011

“Egyptian Fruit Bat”, Oil on linen, 16-1/4 x 10 inches, 2011

“Sunflower (double) Spiral”, Oil on linen, 16-3/4 x 21-3/4 inches, 2011

Mission Statem ent : Wo man Mad e G all ery s upports, cul tiva tes and pr omotes the di verse c ont ributions of wo men in the arts t hr o ugh exh ibitions an d othe r programs tha t serv e, ed uca te an d en ri c h the c ommu nit y. More tha n 7000 w o m en hav e e xhibited thei r ar t a t WMG since 1992. WMG is a tax- exem pt, not- fo r-profit o rga niz ation .

woman made gallery 685 North Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60642, USA Tel: 312-738-0400

www.womanmade.org

March 2 - April 26, 2012 © Claudia Kleefeld 2012

www.kleefeldart.com

ISBN 978-1-4675-0664-9

Front Cover: “Logarithmic Spiral of life”, Oil on linen, 16-3/4 x 21-3/4 inches, 2011 Right: “Book Spiral”, Books, Floor to ceiling 8’, 2011-12

T h e S p i r a l a n d I nte r c onne c te d ness

P a tt erns

o f

N aturE

:

ISBN 978-1-4675-0664-9 “The Eye of a n I s l a m i c B o y ” , O i l o n l i n e n , 9 -1/ 4 x 1 2 i n c h e s , 2 0 1 1