New Works by Sondra Arkin

She’s done it again! Local artist Sondra Arkin recently brought four new works to the gallery depicting a different style. She was uncertain about the new direction her paintings were headed and wanted to see her work outside the confines of the studio. Arkin’s works were mounted on the gallery’s white walls right before the talk on Saturday afternoon. They were the most talked-about pieces of the day. Sondra may have felt that she “jumped off the cliff”, but she sure landed well.


Stylistic development is crucial in the oeuvre of every artist. If Picasso stuck with the academic realism of his figures prior to 1901, the history of art would have never witnessed his defying of tradition via the Blue, Rose and African-influenced Periods, as well as the different stages of Cubism. In the twenty-first century, artists are expected to reinvent their styles over and over again. For many, it is the only way to keep developing artistically. It is hard to do, and even harder to do it successfully.

Two of Arkin’s new works (pictured above), 32’’x32’’ encaustic on dibond paintings, particularly stand out. Her “brick wall” motif both dominates and accents the new compositions, without becoming repetitive, (as, in my view, the paintings in Sean Scully’s Wall of Light series did). These compositions are less structured than before, and indicate the artist’s desire to toss all pre-determined fears aside and simply jump into the unknown. The colors, though still energetic, are slightly muted, as if to reduce the focus on color itself in favor of returning to a focus on the effects of layering – which contain Arkin’s stylistic reference to the overlapping layers of joy, sadness, triumph and tragedy that come to define each of us.

In my opinion, the biggest difference between the old and new Arkin works is in her ability to create movement with the tactile rendering of colors. Rather than having the colors compliment each other side by side, Arkin has produced lines, points and shapes that are suspended in a timeless dance on the picture plane. In her new paintings Mitosis and Waterloo (both 2008), it is the texture that compliment each other; they tell stories and compose melodies. Like the musical paintings of Wassily Kandinsky, Arkin’s new works express power in linear forms and prove that abstraction is not simply the effect of a random process but the result of authenticity and an effort towards the beauty found inwards.

Above all, Sondra Arkin’s continued success in creating abstract art teaches us to observe our surroundings and "see" things we have never seen before or perhaps never looked close enough to see. May these musical pieces continue to add to the many layers of experience that influence our lives.

Artist Feature 4: Sondra Arkin

Pictured Above: Orange Tide, triptych, 2006, encaustic on dibond, each panel 32 x 32 in.

For over 25 years, Sondra Arkin has transformed whatever space was available to her at that given point in time (spare bedroom, dining room or basement) into a haven for creative expression. Although art-making was always in her blood throughout the course of her life, it wasn't until 2001 that Sondra took a risk and quit her day job in marketing to pursue art full-time. This huge leap of faith resulted in a myriad of awards, features in newspapers such as The Washington Post, participation in both group/solo shows all over the mid-Atlantic region and most recently, working as a project curator on behalf of the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities on the new City Hall Art Collection @t the John A. Wilson Building downtown. Sondra's colorful, abstract, mixed media canvases, which rival those of Mark Rothko, and imaginative box-construction works have been widely received by local and national audiences alike. She is also a frequent exhibitor at our gallery and will be featured in the Third Annual Attainable Art Show, opening November 24th.

What strikes me the most about Sondra Arkin's work is her ability to create art that is both purposeful and powerful. No matter the size, material used or color combinations (only warm or cool colors, a combination of the two, a more monochromatic palate), Sondra's work never ceases to create a lasting impression for all who come into contact with it. It is not abstract for the sake of being non-representational, but abstract to evoke every little emotion that is hiding behind our imperfect, human façade. There is a distinct type of [positive] energy in her work that forces the viewer to pause, observe and think beyond what is physically represented on the canvas. Furthermore, Sondra's free style of painting caters to just about anyone: the hip, young art school student to children learning their colors for the first time, spiritual soul-seekers and even to those in the professional world who value high aesthetics.

In recent years, Sondra Arkin's unique encaustic (otherwise known as "hot wax painting", which uses heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added -- dates back to 100-300 AD) technique has led the artist to break free from the picture plane approach and make paintings that take on a more sculptural feel. Now, her compositions are not only conceptual and vibrant, but also boast a soft, playfulness of colors that echoes a dichotomy of the combination of diverse materials. She also extends her experimentation of focusing simply on individual work with the inclusion of diptypchs, triptypchs and polytptychs, thereby proding the viewers to look at these pieces as a whole and enhance the conversations further.

Those who attended the Color: Field Tests show back in April/May of this year may remember Sondra's involvement to help promote the citywide Color Field Remix -- a movement from the 1960s that emerged after Abstract Expressionism and is widely characterized by abstract canvases painted with large areas of solid colors. Her entire oeuvre, be it a mixed media collage/box of found objects or a spiritual landscape of vibrant layers of warm colors, has the power to communicate a positive message to the masses: that life, as we know it, is comprised of layers, both good and bad. We as humans will experience both highs and lows in this journey called life, but these feelings are necessary as we stretch, evolve and grow.

Ultimately, Sondra hopes that what surfaces out of these layers of influence is something of value and beauty. By encouraging her viewers to take an introspective approach while confronted with her artwork, Sondra desires that a tangible layer will then be added to our respective lives, which will hopefully enrich it all the more.