Paula Wilson’s artistic repertoire knows no bounds, as she fearlessly explores various mediums to create her successful body of work. While her primary focus lies in painting, particularly large-scale pieces, her exhibition “Paula Wilson: Toward the Sky’s Back Door” at the Tang Museum showcases a diverse range of creations. Alongside her paintings, visitors will find wooden objects, cloth creatures resembling kites suspended near the ceiling, small sketches and studies, and video pieces infused with aspects of performance. Even her paintings defy categorization as they combine different materials and types of paint in expansive and sometimes whimsical ways.
One example of Wilson’s approach can be seen in her relatively simple work from 2019 titled “Light It Up.” The artwork features a girl sitting at a round table, engrossed in drawing on a small piece of paper. The background, captivating both for the girl and the viewers, boasts a large, exuberant stained-glass window depicting foliage. This figurative piece showcases Wilson’s mastery in utilizing a wide range of materials, including woodcut, lithograph, acrylic and oil paint, muslin, and canvas. Observant viewers will spot a painted outline of the girl’s phone, with the canvas cleverly cut away to reveal a video screen behind it. This artwork exemplifies the freedom and ingenuity that defines Wilson’s artistic approach.
For those seeking to experience “Paula Wilson: Toward the Sky’s Back Door,” the exhibition is currently held at the Tang Museum, located in Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, and will run until December 30, 2023. The museum welcomes visitors from Tuesday to Sunday, between noon and 5:00 p.m., with extended hours till 9:00 p.m. on Thursdays. Admission is free, ensuring accessibility for all. More information about the exhibition can be found on the Tang Museum’s website at https://tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions/439-paula-wilson-toward-the-sky-s-back-door or by contacting them at 518-580-8080.
Although Wilson’s artworks may not revolutionize the art world, they exude confidence and conviction through their harmonious colors and brushwork. While interpretations are subjective, viewers might draw connections between the girl in “Light It Up” and the artist herself, or perhaps any young artist whose creative journey has yet to begin. The inclusion of still-life objects on the table adds depth to the artwork’s narrative. However, it is the video seen through the phone that propels us forward, depicting a woman, potentially the artist herself, using charred wood from a fire pit to create a vibrant nature scene on a white wall. Wilson’s representational works largely revolve around figurative elements, with her Black biracial identity infusing her art with a profound sense of personal history. Nature permeates her creations, evoking the beauty of the New Mexican landscape, where Wilson currently resides. Her works beckon viewers into a holistic and interconnected world, where the body and land, suggestion and depiction, and being and doing converge, giving rise to a grand and optimistic universe.
One of the exhibition’s standout pieces is “The Sky’s Remains,” completed earlier this year. This massive artwork features a figure, presumably the artist herself, nearly reaching the lofty heights of the gallery ceiling. The figure is adorned with both white fabric and a colorful quilt, with cacti at her feet and a vibrant sunflower near her hands. Holding a pair of scissors, she appears to be actively crafting the scene she inhabits, stitching together a world that reflects her preference or the world she desires viewers to see.
Some works in the exhibition juxtapose nature with urban settings. For instance, “Bricked Out” combines cloth and paper in a mixed-media piece that creates a wall adorned with tactile white bricks. From a window, a contemplative woman gazes at a colorful bird perched on an imaginative tree. Colorful graffiti now decorates previously vacant spaces, where larger blocks once stood. These works, including “Bricked Out,” were created in collaboration with the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. Additionally, Wilson collaborated with her husband, woodworker Mike Lagg, to create several wooden pieces showcased in the exhibition. One noteworthy creation is “Full Swing,” an actual swing that visitors can experience, encouraging them to explore the art hanging near the ceiling.
In its entirety, Wilson’s exhibition captivates with its genuine warmth and sincere expression of a fulfilling life. The ethereal cloth moth suspended above and the yucca rug displaying recurring plant designs on the floor, along with a myriad of small studies featuring figures and plants, alongside a semi-fictional wooden model of the artist’s home – these elements, along with playful artworks referencing buttocks (such as “Grandma’s Ass”) and evocations of individuals at home, at work, or amidst nature, collectively constitute Paula Wilson’s captivating world. And in this world, all are invited to partake in the artistic journey she has crafted.
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