DREAM WORLD: PAINTER PUTS SURREAL SPIN ON LANDSCAPES
by Jordan Edwards
March 24, 2010
Freya Grand has a secret. Near the end of the March 12 Bethesda Art Walk, a few curious fans wander into Gallery Neptune. They're here to gaze at Grand's landscapes. One asks a question about her brushes.
"Do you mean how do I make the fog?" Grand replies with a laugh.
The visitor smiles and nods. Grand explains that the secret is in the texture of the brush. Well-worn brushes help create the strikingly realistic effect. It's a sharp contrast to the creamy colors that make her paintings unique.
"Probably around 2001, I had the realization that the power of nature was the most powerful source of inspiration for me," she recalls. "In landscape, there was an opportunity to bring together my love of the natural world and a way of expressing an internal, emotional landscape."
When she began painting these scenes, Grand decided not to make them too realistic. She wanted to avoid creating art that could fit the décor of a doctor's office or a Holiday Inn.
"That really was a fear," she says. "There's a tremendous prejudice, and there always has been, against beauty. Beauty is considered to be a lower-echelon motivation. You're supposed to be political or conceptual. It's supposed to be about anger and all sorts of current events and angst and alienation. That never was me."
Most of the oil on canvas paintings are huge - some 60 inches wide - and contain visions of places like Scotland and Ecuador. Grand doesn't paint on location. She takes photographs and sketches ideas. By the time she returns home, these images have incubated in her imagination and launch dream-like interpretations of mountains and rocky shores.
"I think that [the abstraction] has to do with the emotional content of the work," she explains. "What I see when I'm standing on a particular ridge triggers something inside me about the relationships of particular shapes that speak. When I start a painting, I begin with the space relationships."
Wisconsin born and educated, Grand moved to Washington, D.C., for a relationship in 1990. It failed, but she found the art community she sought. A mural painting business helped pay the bills until 2005. Now she works about six days a week on her own projects in a D.C. studio.
"The murals were really wonderful work because they allowed me to use my skills as a painter," Grand says. "But later, it became possible to just focus on my studio work, and that's where my heart is."
As she paints, Grand concentrates on color and texture. Her broad brush strokes blend together rich colors that would be bizarre in nature, but are stunning on the clean white walls of Gallery Neptune. This style is what attracted friend and art enthusiast Jason Goscha to the work. In 2007, he showcased several of Grand's paintings in Gallery 211, a space he owns and operates in Baltimore.
"Her landscapes take this broad view," says Goscha. "It's this interesting, ethereal experience. She's a dream to work with."
The way Grand mixes paints on such large canvases is impressive, but one can't help but notice the high price points. Collectors can expect to pay $7,000 for pieces like "Poas," down to $900 for small square works on Mylar. Gallery owner Elyse Harrison admits the work is expensive, especially considering that few people have money to spend on luxury items.
"The economy has ruled out some people who might want to buy," she observes, "but I still think there's an audience who can afford [the paintings]."
What's more, Grand exhibits mostly in the Washington-Baltimore area. She has yet to achieve success in art hubs like New York and Los Angeles. Still, Harrison is sticking to her guns.
"We're pricing the art because of her talent and the time it takes to make the paintings," she says.
In the same vein of Neptune's "Drink & Draw" events, the gallery is holding something Harrison calls "Langwidge." This includes a Dada poetry session led by Writers Center director Charles Jensen, wine and cheese and music inspired by Grand's paintings composed by Washington-based musician Steve Rogers.
"I took the perspective of writing a movie soundtrack," says Rogers. "I tried to imagine an emotion or sound that would go with each scene."
No matter how many paintings sell, Grand is happy Harrison invited her to show the landscapes in a solo exhibition. She hopes the public appreciates her combination of the beautiful and the ominous.
"I want people to be drawn to the work, but I like it when there's something a little scary in there."
The paintings of Freya Grand are on display through April 3 at Gallery Neptune, 5001 Wilson Lane, Bethesda. Gallery hours are Friday and Saturday, noon to 5 p.m., and weekdays by appointment. "Langwidge" takes place at the gallery at 7 p.m. Saturday; admission is $10. Call 301-718-0809 or visit galleryneptune.com.