• Sacred Aspirations
  • Preview
  • Critical Mass
  • Masculine/Feminine
  • Imperatives
  • Arbitrary Assertions
  • K. Trowbridge
  • Buffalo Rifle
  • Jack Baker
  • James C. Bassett
  • Laura Hamje
  • Absolution
  • Kathy Liao
  • Lisa Reynolds
  • Finding the 'Real'
  • Autumn Azure
  • Retroactive
  • Karol Fern Sample
  • "Vitriol"
  • Quetzalcoatl
  • Marie Gagnon
  • Tina Mckim
  • New Fiction
  • Almendra Sandoval
  • Linda Waterfall
  • William Cumming
  • Dean Wenick
  • Charles Spitzack
  • Margot Bird
SeattleArtBloc 
Images From
A Grand Opening
http://www.Blindfoldgallery.com

Featured Artist 

Kimberly Trowbridge

In
 "Bolted Dream"
http://kimberlytrowbridge.com
Fatalities to the Heart
By 
Pete Milosovich  © 2012


 The gaping maw of pop culture leaves an endless supply of discarded illusions in its wake. Buried beneath relentless waves of uniformity the face of individuality pushes against the unyielding fabric of mass culture. Carcasses of animals, and the ‘uncivilized’ crumble at the wayside of human progress. Thundering to the eternal drumbeats of war, the push forward never stops. The relentless beat beckons us to join in the celebration, as if nothing else remains worthy of our obligatory participation...

The complex world of Kimberly  Trowbridge  reveals a tapestry of geometric forms that interact with our perceptions, stimulating the imagination with compelling visual associations. The propensity for a greater sense of organization persists, yet the semblance of order  or balance as a unifying element does not always ring true. Perhaps such a desire becomes an after thought in the process, a whim easily discarded, or a defacement like the kinetic brushstrokes in Black Mirror.
 The incomplete human female form in Growing Things in the Dark hovers above the abstract patchwork, emerging as the strongest single element in the composition.  'Organic' shapes of green and yellow, streaks of black, and thick discernible brush strokes of dark green at the periphery of the composition threaten the illusion. Guiding our sensibilities as we search for a sense of cohesion, Ms. Trowbridge subverts any literal notion of this, emphasizing instead the colorful rhythm of forms in the process. 

The inherent static nature of Ms. Trowbridge’s vast tapestry of form and color never the less underscores the implication of something vital emerging, but as a manifestation of feeling rather than direct observation.  Perhaps like the faceless rhythm of the vast human experience we as individuals long to emerge from, if only to articulate a sense of self in stark defiance of civilized conformity.  

This process of becoming represents something eternal, yet not always tangible or linear. The imagination beckons us to celebrate the rhythm of an inconsequential existence with regard to nature and the universe. In defiance, humanity embraces order and disorder alike, but with a rational side that seeks closure, consistence, and confinement. In such a space we readily defend the ego; contemplating the very fabric of reality we struggle to emerge from... 

complete, tangible, and fearless.
Relentless in the exploration of abstract design, Effigy creates a vast interplay between ‘intellectual’ space and the tangible reality we all share. The juxtaposition of a tree stump in relation to the symbolic fire, and the abstract figure opposite compel us to explore the eternal relationship to mother nature, a dependency that begins with fire burning relentlessly at the dawn of civilization. To contemplate such a feat of aesthetic experience we become at once reduced to animals groping in the dark, as well as humanity personified. 

The abstract figure, a symbolic figment of the imagination stirred by the complexity of self awareness remains anonymous. Humanity burns revealing so many possibilities, and yet our inherent dependency on nature becomes the issue humanity can scarcely rectify. Effigy perhaps, mocks the notion of civilization as anything but the illusion it purports to deny through vast enterprises and complex schemes.  Marching toward perfection our current state of affairs tramples mother nature beneath unsuspecting heels...


The Gift Horse disseminates native american culture, folding it into the fabric of western thought as abstraction. The rational side of our intellect may continue to associate forms, but the compulsion to disregard familiar cultural traits becomes overwhelming in the process. Now, the recognizable symbols of an indigenous culture become displaced and concealed. The point of view in The Gift Horse decisively shifts away from recognizable symbols toward a renewed emphasis on cross-cultural interaction. This never ending process becomes the source of inspiration, diminishing familiar cultural signs from the fabric of contemporary reality. 

 Kimberly Trowbridge does not articulate obvious multicultural 'norms', like the generic illustrations of majestic natives within ideal settings.  Her approach to the process of acculturation, as a systematic reorganization of thought, illustrates how a vital cultural spirit manifests despite injustices of the past
...and the empty apologies of the present.

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