Galen Cheney: “Maybe Even Joy”

 By: Matthias Baudinet    

     Galen Cheney, an artist with an extensive biography in terms of where she has exhibited her art work, recently displayed a variety of some of her work at the William Feick Arts Center from September 2nd to September 26th. She displayed 11 pieces of art, mostly oil on canvas paintings and drew a good crowd into the Art Center where people could admire Cheney’s work and sip/eat wine and cheese. 

     With her 11 pieces of art, she used many different oils and spray colors. In specific paintings she used strictly warm colors, and colder colors on other paintings. There were one of two that had a combination, and those were the ones that most people looked at the longest. Partly because that clashing combination will always draw the eye a lot more than works of art that stick to either warm or cold colors.

   

      As mentioned before, Cheney used a lot of oil in many of her paintings, in fact, she stated that some of her works displayed at the Feick were recycled paintings. Meaning that she painted over paintings that she had previously set aside for a couple months with the paint already dry. This leads to a lot of hard strokes that intertwine to create a fusion of colors that really brings out the oil. 

     Students and professors came together to see the art work on display and listen to Galen Cheney explain the selection of art being presented to the audience, including her inspiration from some of her works, the relationships that she has had with them, and whether or not she will continue to work on some of these pieces. 

    Jill Seeland helped organized the show for Galen, and therefore should be credited with the excellent placement of the work art in the art center. The space available in the center was carefully used to make sure that each painting could be viewed from many different angles, and also angles that the artist wanted her audience to view her work from.

     During her talk, Galen Cheney explained that in her work she is very in the moment and does not “plan ahead,” or “prepare” for paintings that she is about to work on. She has an instinctual process. She explained that mark by mark she is very compelled to get at some thing through the painting which she states, may very well be unattainable. The has developed a love-hate relationship between Cheney and her works which has helped the artist (according to her) put effort into every single work that she takes on. 

     You can view a short video of the opening night of Galen Cheney’s show on the facebook page of the Feick Arts Center: https://www.facebook.com/TheFeick?fref=ts