Rachel Siporin’s fourth show at Bowery Gallery, Bathers, focuses on figure compositions inspired by bathers at nearby Cotton Hollow’s Nature Preserve’s Roaring Brook. The artist writes “Initially I have no relationship to the people portrayed, but as I draw, paint and build the intaglio prints, a deep connection develops as they become characters in the play. The paintings begin with an application of a color ground that sets the key for the interaction of hue, value and intensity. Cotton Hollow’s formidable cliffs, huge rocks, and water that is seldom blue, but predominantly green and orange, creates a unique backdrop for the bathers. Bold brushstroke and a painterly approach have been a constant in Siporin’s work over decades. The water at Cotton Hollow establishes the perfect vehicle to explore color, transparency and layering.
