BRATTLEBORO-In "Looking Beyond," Rose Watson explores grief and loss following her sister's death. She asks, "what happens when your sister, who feels more like a twin, dies?" Watson shares her experience following that loss in a show during the month of September at the Harmony Collective.
"Looking Beyond" will open Friday, Sept. 6, with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m, during Brattleboro's Gallery Walk and continues through the month of September.
Watson is an artist who found her way back to painting as an adult. Her paintings feature bright colors, and she says she believes in expressing oneself freely. "Put whatever you want on the canvas," she says. "Just do it!"
In discussing her loss, Watson says, "I realized that I had to stop looking at solid matter. My sister wouldn't be there anymore. If I wanted to see her, I had to look beyond solid shapes, beyond physical reality."
Watson goes on to say that to do this, she began working with photographs she took in the woods near her home, expanding them until they were no longer leaves and trees and flowers but texture and color only. She then began painting these images, drawing on Monet as an influence. She feels her sister more now, mostly through butterflies and birds, which are featured in this show.
The Harmony Collective organizers describe themselves as a group of local artists working in a wide variety of meda and dedicated to creating an artist-first space. At least one of the member-artists is present to work in and run the gallery daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Learn more at HarmonyArtsBrattleboro.com.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.