Barbara Harrison, new works, Migration, Work & Ritual

The Migrations

Modern migrations recall the ancient migrations; people Moving To a place or Moving Away From a place. There, but for good fortune, go you or I. Migrations can be a physical movement, but can also be an emotional movement. Seeing photographs of current migrations, I am reminded that it is an ancient process reaching into modern times and will continue. But it is also an image of emotional migrations as we move Away from a place or move To a place.

The Work

The Work again mirrors the ancient but hints at the changing face of work in our time. The Work is a collection of work in the 21st century as technology displaces the middle class; and the work of rural life.

The Other Stories

The Stories of Rituals, Daydreams, Myths, Poetry. Other Stories collects images of the practice of rituals and faith in the bedrocks people can find to place their faith in.

One of my destinations while hitch-hiking through Europe and the Middle East was Florence, Italy. While there I heard about Studio Simi taught by Nerina Simi, who learned the 19th Century methods from her father, Filadelfo Simi who in turn studied with Leon Gerome in Paris. There, using classical techniques, I learned how to put down the observed into drawings and paintings. Having to return to the U.S., I studied at Pratt Institute under Jake Berthot. Feeling the need to work from the model, I studied at the New York Studio School of Drawing and Painting under Mercedes Matter, and later the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I am grateful for the seemingly eclectic training I have had. I remain grounded in the Simi Studio observational outlook but integrate the other skills I learned in the U.S.
Barbara Harrison
Sep 27, 2018

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