The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Ketcham exhibits at Hunt Library
FALLS VILLAGE — The David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village presents Sallie Ketcham: Recurrent Rhythm, an exhibit of paintings and prints on display on the library’s art wall through Saturday, June 16 according to a press release from organizers.
Sallie Ketcham loves “playing in paint, like a child in a mud pile.” Her energetic and sometimes roaming nature is present in the paintings and monoprints collected for her new exhibit, Recurrent Rhythm. Ms. Ketcham says that she tries to capture energy that she takes in on her journeys through nature.
“I look for the intimate in what sometimes feels to be an overwhelming scene, finding details in nature that at first seem insignificant. Looking into a pond and seeing leaves that are settled to the bottom creating a rich environment for new growth; looking through a forest and seeing layers of trees interspersed with leaves and branches all connected. I want to express the crashing sea, the rushing river, the windblown hedgerow. I want the painting to feel the weight of gravity’s pull.”
This connectivity and physicality emanates throughout the collection. In her paintings and printmaking, she physically layers — oil paint or ink goes on and then scraped or wiped out, leaving serendipitous bits of color or texture from which to build anew. Ketcham’s prints combine not only multiple plates but also different processes in the same image. Each plate adds a new layer of color and intensity. Recurrent imagery flows through her painting and printmaking creating a natural rhythm.
Sallie Ketcham was educated at the University of Delaware, receiving a Faculty Award in 1986. In 2013 she completed a Post Baccalaureate concentrating in oil painting at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Her varied career includes freelance photographer for the Wilmington News Journal and several teaching positions. She turned to painting in 1996. Ketcham’s work has been exhibited several times with the X-Girls collective, at The White House, Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Her line of bronze funeral urns is part of The Funeria collection in San Francisco.