“Rising from a deep spell, the sleeper awakens. Shaking off the filth of the grave, a brand new spell is solid. Reaching between two realms in locations the place the veil is thinnest, drawing upon an outdated data and an influence lengthy suppressed, the lifeless are raised and spirit summoned. Life stirs within the darkness, vegetation bloom within the evening, and a approach ahead is discovered.” —Marci Washington
Embracing gothic tropes and macabre imagery, Marci Washington evokes a sinister albeit seductive world, her characters, nonetheless lives, and landscapes rendered in wealthy saturated colours all cloaked in deep, velvety black.
Drawing from nineteenth century gothic fiction, in addition to horror films and fairy tales, Washington is curious about constructing a fictional narrative with connections to historical past in addition to to the current, a course of she describes as “illustrating a novel that doesn’t exist.” If it did, it might in all probability be quite a bit like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, or Flip of the Screw – novels which operate as social commentary in addition to haunting epics of supernatural romanticism.
Washington states, “Rising from a deep spell, the sleeper awakens. Shaking off the filth of the grave, a brand new spell is solid. Reaching between two realms in locations the place the veil is thinnest, drawing upon an outdated data and an influence lengthy suppressed, the lifeless are raised and spirit summoned. Life stirs within the darkness, vegetation bloom within the evening, and a approach ahead is discovered.”
A Spell to Break the Spell is presently on view at Rena Bransten Gallery.
