Monday, February 11, 2008

Kristi Ropeleski



Upon entering Kristi Ropeleski’s studio, it was quite apparent that I was not quite yet on friendly turf. The artist’s piercing green eyes stared me down and mentally assessed me and my questions every step of the way. I was pretty sure she could sense my nervousness—I felt as though I had just stepped into the lion’s den. After rejecting the rest of the regular (and, admittedly somewhat boring) studio visit questions, I seemed to be able to get her to open up…or was it the other way around?

Currently in her second year of her MFA at York University, Ropeleski actually conceived of her thesis concept a few years ago, but abandoned the idea after coming to the conclusion that she lacked the language to be able to articulate the project at the time. The project consists of around 17 large-scale paintings that depict the artist herself—not self-portraits, but rather studies—in a kind of limbo, the bodies are neither floating nor falling yet neither do they seem fixed to the canvas. By repeating the same forms over and over again, Ropeleski creates a visual progression without a clear beginning or ending. She explains that the actions taking place in the paintings are not in an undefined sequence, but rather they are all happening at the same time.

She justifies using herself as a model in that it makes her feel more sincere about the project; more “Implicated in the dialogue.” Although she does admit to getting sick of painting herself sometimes, she feels that this enables her to free herself of any predispositions she might have towards another sitter. This way, she says, she can be a bit more gratuitous in choosing a title without worrying about offending anyone. Actually, the example she gave was using me as a model and entitling it “Shit for Brains.” Point taken…although I believe I would quickly get over this shock after a closer inspection of my fictitious portrait. It would, no doubt, be given the same care and consideration as any of her other paintings, despite the title it was given.

It is quite obvious that Ropeleski knows what she is doing with a paint brush. In details such as hands and feet, I could see a mastery of technical and proportional ability. She has a knack for obtaining a certain quality of light in her paintings that draws the viewer in and her use of oil paints and choice of colours is visually stunning. Her thesis show, White Noise, will be on display at Lennox Contemporary at 12 Ossington Avenue from April 3rd to the 20th with the opening reception to be held on April 4th, and is definitely not one to be missed.

Jeanette Janzen