Move It

Painter Carol Francine Swagel used to spend a lot of time at Lake Pleasant water-skiing with her family. She’s not sure what the lake looks like now, but nature, loss, and memory have propelled her to create the works in “Metamorphosis: New Paintings by Carol Francine Swagel” at Vault Gallery...

By Tricia Parker

May 20, 2010

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Painter Carol Francine Swagel used to spend a lot of time at Lake Pleasant water-skiing with her family. She’s not sure what the lake looks like now, but nature, loss, and memory have propelled her to create the works in “Metamorphosis: New Paintings by Carol Francine Swagel” at Vault Gallery.

Just as a skier crosshatches the surface of the water, Swagel’s nontraditional implements, such as rulers, move thick layers of paint across her canvas. The layers hide objects -- a key, a bead, or a baby spoon -- that can only be seen upon close inspection.

Swagel doesn’t set out to represent a particular thing but eventually arrives at a specific idea. One painting on Plexiglas depicts the scene at a Los Angeles beach as observed from a moving car. Another piece reflects on a beloved’s hospitalization as imagined by an evolving psyche.

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