Artist Deborah Baronas says: “Education is all about growth, evolution, change.” Her series of three paintings celebrate the transitional moments we experience on our educational journey. Using a technique of layering printed gauze over paintings on board, her imagery shifts and changes with the viewer: as you move closer, step away, walk past, elements of the paintings snap into focus or melt away. This shifting of perspective animates the figures in the paintings and echoes the process of acquiring knowledge.
We feel the students’ trepidation as they arrive at university; their familiarity as they study on campus; and their joy and achievement as they emerge, full of hope for the next step. Deborah’s choice of rich, vivid colors add to a sense of depth and dynamism. Her paintings also remind us to look beneath the surface, to question, to dig deeper; that there’s always more to see and learn.
Ruth Harvey
AS220
Deborah Baronas, Chrysalis (2018) (triptych)
Oil paint on board with fabric dye on linen gauze
Collection of Roger Williams University, commissioned with assistance from AS220