Untitled work.
That’s what the placard says next to many of the paintings in “Women of Substance,” on exhibition in the Columbia Art Gallery through Jan. 31.
Not that the works don’t make statements or acutely frame perspectives — they all do. The artists Judith Cunningham and Ellen Dittebrandt just never got around to naming them, setting them aside until they needed to trade for firewood or other goods. Then they would go to the crawlspace beneath their Mosier yurt and bring one out.
Is it a carp pond? It looks like fish under the water, with flashes of undulating greens, oranges, and yellows. Is it flora or fauna? Decide for yourself; Dittebrandt might have been asking as she painted.
Green rectangles elbow into the dominant brown of wheat fields and barren hills in Cunningham’s striking overhead view. It could be many places in the mid- to eastern Gorge, but what the artist captures is the blending of the built and natural environments.
Cunningham and Dittebrandt were married and lived in Mosier and created beautiful mixed-media paintings of the surrounding country from the Columbia Gorge to the Steens Mountains. Dittebrandt died in a bike crash on Interstate 84 in 2014 and Cunningham passed away in 2015.
Sunflowers, roses, wheat fields, river rocks, orchards, in wide views and intimate closeups, dominate the show. In one of Cunningham’s more whimsical works, a tortoise shell cat seems to be waking up from a dream of triangles and quilt patterns.
One of Dittebrandt’s orchard scenes pulls you forward to its angled tree trunks and canopy of blossoms lit from above, an outward image that makes you feel centered.
“It was pretty emotional,” events manager Krystin Fix said of the numerous paintings layered under cardboard beneath the yurt, discovered by Cunningham’s son, Mark Amoss.
“If he hadn’t gone in to clean things out in the crawlspace, we might never have known about them and a lot of them ended up getting framed and displayed,” Fix said, adding that Amoss “masterminded the exhibit” with curator Renee Westbrook.
Works of art from both artists are available for sale, as well as works on display from private local collections. The exhibition is a tribute to these two local women whose lives were woven into the fabric of the Gorge through their art and their connection to the community, said Westbrook, who is also gallery manager.
Both artists created work that was featured in publications and galleries around the country, and collected by art lovers from around the world. Their love of the Columbia Gorge gave a rich context to their creative endeavors, and is reflected in the beauty of their work, Westbrook said.
“Women of Substance” provides a deep view of the contrasting but complementary visions of these fellow artists and life partners.
Cunningham’s quiet pastels next to Dittebrandt’s riotously gestural mixed-media paintings create a complete visual expression of what it is to be a Gorge artist, according to Westbrook. Influenced by our dramatic landscape and the colors and light of seasonal changes, both women managed to capture the emotion of place in distinctly different ways.
“Their work was both independent and related, and the loss of both of these women in such a short time span was a tremendous blow to our small and tightly-knit Gorge community,” Westbrook said.
The exhibit provides a couple of side journeys courtesy of the artists. Amoss donated a beaded sunburst necklace, “The Phoenix Has Left the Building” (photo at center, page B1) that will be auctioned April 2 at the Center’s 10th anniversary kickoff gala.
One of Dittebrandt’s works in progress stands on display, along with a box of her vibrant paints (photo, page B1). Notes the placard: “On this piece she started with a layer of gesso on white wood followed by a loose drawing that established composition and hints of things to come.” The paints were purchased at the artist’s estate sale by Larissa Lodzinski, who donated them to Columbia Art Gallery to be used in the studio by students in workshops.
Located in downtown Hood River, the mission of the Columbia Center for the Arts is to “cultivate the arts in the Columbia River Gorge by providing experiences that touch the heart, challenge the intellect, and spark conversation.”
The Center supports a community that values, supports, and participates in the arts, and strives to serve all populations throughout the five county Mid-Columbia region, from Cascade Locks to Moro, and from White Salmon to Parkdale.
Commented