Beth Welch:

But Even So…

january 31 - february 23, 2023

FIRST WEDNESDAY OPENING: feb 1, FROM 6 - 9PM

ARTICULATE ARTIST TALK: SUNDAY, feb 5, AT 4PM.

NORMAL GALLERY HOURS: TUE - SUN, 12PM - 6PM

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The very idea of memory is at the heart of the artwork of Beth Welch. She uses a few specific drawing techniques to illustrate the relationships that children have with those that raise them and, conversely, the relationship a parent has with their child. The focus of her work is less on the particular family dynamic, but on the remembered moments shared between them. How do those memories change as we grow older? How do we bring our current selves into the memories of who we, and our parents, were as children?

My drawings of mothers and their children visualizes the relationship between self-image and a recollection of beloved maternal figures. These drawings converge a quiet realism and a sense of loss, mortality, and memory. I use mark making as a means to envision a new space for personal healing, and to reimagine my subjects beyond forgotten figures of past lives. In a virtual palimpsest, I focus on recreating the remembered loved one with a softness, with charcoal, that contrasts with the more distinct work, in pen and ink, depicting the child. Situating my subjects in quiet settings, this recent work employs purposeful mark making within the context of memory and long forgotten figures.
The title of this body of work, But Even So… was chosen based on a haiku written by Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶, 1763 – 1828):
“It is true
That this world of dew
Is a world of dew.
But even so…”
This translation breaks the haiku format, but it is still a haunting poem that has remained in my heart since the recent loss of my mother. This poem has, with words, described the brokenheartedness and hope that I often feel when I create my drawings.

Beth’s work has been exhibited at the Alexandria Museum of Art, The Culture Center of Cape Cod, Gallery 114 in Portland, Oregon, Dallas Metro Arts Contemporary, The Masur Museum of Art, I Like Your Work Podcast Summer Juried Competition, The Stay Home Gallery in Nashville Tennessee, Woman’s Work. Art in Poughkeepsie, New York, the Baton Rouge Court House, Southern University Innovation Center, The Firehouse Gallery, Kellwood Contemporary Gallery, Commercial Interiors Group Baton Rouge, and Brownsville Museum of Fine Art.

This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from Eleanor Owen Kerr and Jessica Sharpe. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during normal gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from January 31 through February 23rd, 2023.