BARBARA DURANT
960 Columbia Street
Barbara DuRant is the embodiment of quest. Born in the South, her life has been one of invention, construction, deconstruction and reinvention. Gestures of discovery and transformation have given way to a wide berth of meaning that she richly expresses through her painting. The journey, replete with shadowy challenge and uncertainty, is at the core of her painting — where metaphor and poetry unite, and myth finds its place. It is where fate and destiny reside — and the place where soul returns.
The work . . . and her life . . . are so intertwined that the biography of one cannot be viewed or understood separate from the other. To recount, deeply personal and mysterious abstract narratives connect with intention to make the whole. There is no explicit subtext intended. What is offered is a note of authenticity. A record of transformation for those who may be interested. She, like her painting, is more than a paragraph in a bio. Expediency without essence.
What then?
Consider her life a creative act. Where living and art are one and the same. Each gesture — an invitation to see or feel the truth of the experience. The subtext is within the viewer.
Artist Statement
My painting comes from a very deep need to comprehend human experience. To give shape and form to the mosaic of who I am within a context of journey . . . soul, fate, destiny. Myth. The materials and tools — paint, brushes, palette knives, hands — are conduits of the unpredictable within an inner landscape of search. Gestural marks spring intuitively from a deep well within. Layer upon layer, brought to life, to unite and reveal, to learn, and to discover something that suggests meaning. The question of what will ultimately emerge . . . in the painting . . . and within myself . . . is what connects me. Mythical components of transformation, very personal, and with passionate intent.
Markers from the depth of soul.
It is an individual journey . . . seeing, feeling, interpreting. Ultimately, the paintings are windows into a very personal experience. In leaving interpretation open, they serve as invitations to find a quiet place that resonates presence and reflection.