Artist Statement
Gretchen Woodman's drawings and paintings relate to the enigma of the human-animal relationship. Most often serious and thought-provoking, sometimes humorous, she works toward the side of the animal.
Her most recent work explores presentations that bring animals into visual/kinetic experiences with viewers. Her layered silk paintings of full-sized endangered species are suspended in space, animated by air currents. No kinetic visual moment is repeatable in the presence of these animal paintings, as no historical moment on this earth is repeatable after a species is lost. The kinetic pieces embody the animals' vulnerability in real time. Air is the vector and the lens.
“Although invisible, air is the medium through which we see all else"…" And this unseen enigma is the very mystery that enables life to live and unites our breathing bodies." (p. 226 The Spell of the Sensuous, by David Abrams)
Artist Biography
My life has always been punctuated by animals. My memory and timeline are anchored by events related to animals in my living history. I have pursued Zoology, veterinary work, animal rescue, natural history, and most recently Human Animal Studies. My art evolves from this realm of knowledge. I experiment constantly, writing notes, considering and inventing...always trying to discover more ways to present the animals in ways that help the viewer experience their magic, beauty and vulnerability.
Curriculum Vitae
Gretchen Hill Woodman
gretchenwoodman.net
603-969-6716 (C)
Solo Exhibitions
2018 Sept-Nov Materiality: Between Thought and Presence, GBCC, Corporate Dr., Portsmouth, NH
2017 Nov. 3-27, Reconfiguration, 42 Maple, Bethlehem NH
2016 The Gallery at WREN, Bethlehem, NH
1999 The Artist’s Eye Gallery, North Hampton, NH
Group Exhibitions
2021 Feb-May Love and Loss Across Species Lines:The Neurosciene of Attachment, Orlando Science Center, Orlando, FL
2020-21 Nov-Jan Modern Animal Fables, Visions West Contemporary, Bozeman, MT
2020 Nov. 1-30 Gathering, The Gallery at WREN, Bethlehem, NH
2020 Sept.11 - Oct. 24 Think Big Prints, Toe River Arts at Art Gallery, Spruce Pine, NC
2020 Aug. 8 - Nov. 1 Carving a Creative Path, The Hudgens Center, Duluth, GA
2020 Feb. 20 - Mar. 14 WILD, Gallery 263, Cambridge, MA
2019 Holiday Show, Visions West Contemporary, Bozeman, MT
2019 Animalia, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY
2019 Group Holiday Show, Visions West Contemporary, Bozeman, MT
2019 Compassion Speaks Event, Beasts of Burden Presentation, New York, NY
2019 Morean Art Center, St. Petersburg, FL
2018 Animalis, MANIFEST Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2018 Intertwined: Nature, Chaos, Hope, Twiggs Gallery, King St., Boscawen, NH
2018 Where Art and Nature Meet, Mill Brook Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Concord, NH
2018 Drawn From Nature, John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, Audubon, PA
2018 Nefelibata, Union Street Gallery, Indiana University, Kokomo, IN
2018 Healing Nature, Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, MA
2018 100 Winter/Spring 2018 Group Show, 100 Market Street Gallery, Portsmouth, NH
2018 Kimball Jenkins School of Art, Concord, NH
2017 Creatures Real and Imagined, Dover Children’s Museum, Dover, NH
2017 Convergence of Souls, 300 Summer Street, Boston, MA
2017 Dark Arts/Light Arts, 100 Market Street Gallery, Portsmouth, NH
2017 Living With Animals Conference, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky
Displayed art, gave artist talk, images in catalog
2015 MFA Graduate Show, Sharon Arts Gallery, Peterborough, NH
2012 Deerfield Arts Tour, Deerfield, NH
2010 Deerfield Arts Tour, Deerfield, NH
2009 Guest Artist at The Balsams, Dixville Notch, NH
Deerfield Arts Tour, Deerfield, NH
2008 Deerfield Arts Tour, Deerfield, NH
Guest Artist for 7 days at The Balsams, Dixville Notch, NH
Displayed work and taught 3 monotype workshops per day
2007 Guest Artist for 7 days at The Balsams, Dixville Notch, NH
Displayed work and taught 3 monotype workshops per day
Portland Sidewalk Art Festival, Portland,
Deerfield Arts Tour, Deerfield, NH
Portland Sidewalk Art Festival, Portland, ME
2006 Deerfield Arts Tour, Deerfield, NH
Portland Sidewalk Art Festival, Portland, ME
Artisans Weekend at The Balsams, Dixville Notch, NH
2005 1st Stock Art Gallery, Deerfield, NH
Prints of the Year, Concord, NH
Portland Sidewalk Art Festival, Portland, ME
Deerfield Arts Tour, Deerfield, NH
NHSPCA Art & Craft Show, Stratham, NH
2004 NHSPCA Art Show and Sale, Stratham,NH
Portland Sidewalk Art Festival, Portland, ME
Hot off the Presses, Sharon Art Center, Peterborough, NH
Artisans Summer Open House, Madbury, NH
Open Studio Tour, Wakefield, NH
2003 Durham Art Association Annual Members Exhibit, Durham, NH
Prints of the Year-Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, NH
Represented by Nottingham Fine Art, Nottingham, NH
Art Show for the Animals at NHSPCA, Stratham, NH
Art Appeal PCAC, UNH, Durham, NH
NH Art Association Sale at Sunapee Ski Area, NH
2002 Art in the Barn, Wakefield, NH
Member NH Art Association, Boscawen, NH
2001 Christmas at the Cottage, Contoocook, NH
Durham Art Association Scholarship Benefit, Durham, NH
Four Square Framing, Stratham, NH
1999 Arches First Annual Print Exhibition, Boston, MA
Galleries
Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown, MA
Visions West Contemporary, Bozeman, MT
WREN, Bethlehem, NH
Education
2015 New Hampshire Institute of Art, MFA
1999 UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, Bachelor of Fine Arts
Employment
2014-Present Independent Artist
2005-2012 Art Teacher