current SHOW

                          "DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE": NEW WORKS BY PEGGY REEVES
                                                    NOVEMBER 6-29, 2020
Reeves is exhibiting two bodies of recent work, one based on a cameraless type of photography and the other a mixed media approach to schematic drawings of rabbit anatomy.  In both, nature is the springboard for the imagination and, though, for different reasons, the title, “Down the Rabbit Hole” has meaning for each.
The former group is highlighted by several landscapes that echo the vast terrain traversed by migrants seeking refuge on the southern border of the United States.  Though there is an absence of human form, the obstacles of land and nature are barriers enough for the crossing to safety.  The landscape, though abstract, suggests a journey of difficult navigation across the expanse of the picture plane. The “rabbit hole” here is the beginning of a journey so many have attempted that is particularly strange, problematic, especially one that becomes increasingly so as it unfolds.  With these works, Reeves is treading some uncharted territory in the combination of painting and photography using a mix of materials from both.  .
The second series of hybrid pieces are monotypes and pastel drawings using scientific diagrams of rabbit anatomy from a vintage text on the subject. The linear elements play a balancing act with pattern and texture transforming the composition into a narrative of landscape, still life and figuration.   
In these two series, Reeves uses imagery that is both formally dense and emotionally empathic. She uses the metaphor of the rabbit hole as the portal for transportation into a wonderful, troublesome or possibly surreal state of consciousness.  The viewer may take that very journey.