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About the Artist
Teddy Gavenchak has been an artist
whose accomplished career and unique works span over 40 years. Her work has been enjoyed and recognized by collectors, students
and critics from exhibitions beginning in the late 60’s at The Smithsonian Institute to the Museum of Modern Art in the 70’s
to The Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York in the 80’s and 90’s. Her work is now a part of many public and private
collections.
Gavenchak conceived and created her unique works on canvas at her studios in New York City, East Hampton,
New York and most recently in Atlanta, Georgia. Her studios have been the subjects of several studio tours for well-known
charities and countless critics, peers and students have spent hours with Gavenchak exploring the conceptual platform and
rigorous technique behind her work.
The Work
Much of Gavenchak’s portfolio of work focuses on the juxtaposition
of the figure and the imagination. Her work “reveals a long commitment to painting figurative subjects cast in mysterious
scenarios and to the construction of carefully orchestrated surfaces that usually include added physical components: first
layered cut canvas fragments in the 70’s, then collaged images taken from various print sources.” New York Times, Sunday
- September 21, 1997. “Delicate whimsy is present as well as powerful semi-macabre inventions. Absurdities may be emphasized,
but the dreamlike combinations never become nightmarish because the brightly costumed cast of characters seems clown-like
and color schemes are basically joyous.” New York Times, Sunday - September 15, 1991.
In nearly all of her works,
there is painting on collage and collage on painting. Layer upon layers reflect the experiences of the artist’s life and
her surroundings. Her works are “motivated by a feeling that art must mirror life’s totality of phases, components, and experiences
. . . . [i]t is not surprising that Gavenchak consistently turns to collage to achieve her goals as this approach permits
density, complexity, and a build-up of visual and mental references.” Arts Magazine, March 1981. Gavenchak’s work is typically
comprised of a combination of layered canvas, acrylic and collage.
Gavenchak’s drawings on paper have also been
a large part of her career and in many instances have served as studies for her large works on canvas. “Sensitive drawings
with acrylic pens on textured . . . papers sometimes crisply delineated, sometimes allowed to bleed to produce a wash effect,
are composed of the mechanical symbols that are a part of every day life.” Arts Magazine, November 1978.
The artist’s
most recent and planned works are smaller in size and created by mixing newspaper print, laser prints, paint, solar etchings
with chine colle’. In the future, further exploration of these techniques plus returning to larger paintings of magical gardens
and undersea-scapes is planned.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Teddy Gavenchak is an artist who has painted for over
four decades with a keen understanding and unique manner of interpretation. Her works, while all basically created in the
same palette, are very distinct from period to period and can be related to the many inspirations that have served as the
basis for the artist’s creations.
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