Both figurative and abstract works explore transformation in progress at this exhibition at Wally Workman Gallery in concurrence with Print Austin. Life-size monochromatic aquatint portraits of children in the process of having their faces painted hone in on a range of expressions and hands holding tools of transformation. In this series of varied editions, Being Painted, each child’s face is individually painted in different familiar motifs. Of these, the show features the masked, clowned, and starry-eyed.
Also on view, large abstract works from the Color Wheels series explore self-similarity and collective growth. Multiple panels from a single origin accumulate to resemble kaleidoscopic landscapes, each one repeatedly referencing an image that no longer exists in its original form. The show as a whole uses the repetition and variation of printmaking to tell stories of transformation.
What: Ellen Heck: Prints
Where: Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, TX
When: January 4-26, 2025
Ambiance: Transfixed Transformations
