When artist Annie Owens lived in San Francisco, she shopped in the middle of the night. Yet the aisles were far from deserted. Many other people clearly preferred the relative quiet and deep shadows of the night to the pandemonium of the day.
This preference is reflected in her art, and in her current solo show at Nielsen Arts Gallery in Berkeley. As she expresses it, the show is “a playful nod of solidarity to those who prefer quiet over loud, dusk over high noon and solitary activities to group sports.”
The 12 watercolor paintings and four graphite drawings are collectively titled “Vampire Summer.” Owens still remembers a cartoon she saw years ago depicting a witch in a lounge chair on a beach, with the moon, instead of the sun, shining overhead.
“Many of these works are inspired by my own after-sunset wanderings, when the warm sun and active buzz of daily life take a backseat to long shadows and the quiet, cooler atmosphere of evening,” she writes. “If you also prefer to do your errands, gardening or getting your steps in after the sun goes down, we might have something in common.”
Almost all of the pieces on view are new, except for two originally shown in a previous show. Though “Vampire Summer” is her sixth solo show, it’s her first in her native Bay Area. She credits the support of Nielsen Arts Gallery owner Patrick Mercer for encouraging her to put together the show. “Patrick said, ‘Why don’t you do shows in your own backyard?’” the Richmond resident said in a phone interview.
The gallery also hosts the annual “510 All Stars” art exhibit, which, Owens said, is ideal for the “new contemporary” art genre she places her work in. “New contemporary” is a term coined by her and husband/fellow artist Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert for their iconic art magazine, Hi-Fructose.
“The neighborhood really needs galleries like this, supporting local artists,” Owens said.
In an interview about a previous solo show, published in Hi-Fructose, Owens described the beginning of her interest in watercolor: “I wasn’t really drawn to watercolor at all until I saw Stephen Gamell’s work for Leo Possessed, a 1979 kid’s book; then in the ’80s, his illustrations for the “Scary Stories” series made me a fan of his art. I collect almost any horror lit, even if it’s for kids but especially if there are great illustrations.”
Owens frequently hikes and backpacks, and looks for inspiration in the early mornings and twilights. These times, she said, resonate in her process of creating work. Liquid watercolor and graphite are subtle media. They can be layered and re-layered to convey the many shades of grays and blacks which appear when light is filtered, rather than direct.
“I’ll do sketches [during hikes], then do a new drawing based on something in the sketchbook,” she said. She then scans the drawing into Photoshop, enlarges it, prints it out and places it on a light table. Then begins the painstaking process of layering watercolor on top of the drawing.
“I may place a color wash, or fill in the background [first],” she said. Watercolor is an unforgiving medium, so choices must be made carefully. “At some point,” she said, chuckling, “the painting is all one tone, which is depressing.”
She continues to “sharpen” and detail the image. But like many artists, she sometimes finds it difficult to determine when a painting is really finished. “I’ll sleep on it, and come back to it,” she said. She cites one painting that she came back to multiple times before deciding it needed “a rake.” She added that element—and then stopped. “I would rather stop sooner than later,” she said.
Owens’ work can be described as mysterious, haunting, even perhaps a little creepy, but with a sweetness tinged with melancholy. There is often a sense that the viewer has only glimpsed a part of the story being depicted.
In Hard World for Little Things, for example, why does the figure in the boat appear to be naked? And why is the door of the house partially open? In Runaway, is the figure looking towards the tiny house in the woods as a chosen refuge or looking back at it as she prepares to leave for good?
Owens spoke about two other pieces in the current show, Big Sister and Little Sister. Neither depicts a real person, she said. Little Sister came first. Originally, her impulse was to show the girl’s defiance. “But she emerged as more vulnerable and hurt,” Owens said.
Big Sister is “more knowing, more mature. She’s found her boundaries.”
Gallery visitors approached Owens at the opening reception and spoke about how these two images affected them. She heard stories about painful childhoods and even abuse, reinforcing just how powerful art can be in triggering emotions and memories. And although Owens was unsure that anyone would want to live with these images, some do. Prints of both are available in two signed series of 25. The originals, like all the work in “Vampire Summer,” are also for sale.
Visitors have also commented on the arrangement of the works, seeing something that Owens herself did not consciously intend. “They’ve said, ‘I really like how the works progress from right to left, starting in the morning and ending in the evening,’” she said, adding, “People bring their own perceptions.”
Owens will participate in a group show opening in July at Portland’s Brassworks Gallery. But for now, through April 1, those intrigued by the description of her work should find their way to North Berkeley.
Annie Owens: ‘Vampire Summer,’ through April 1. Nielsen Gallery, 1545 Solano Ave., Berkeley. 510.525.8968. nielsenarts.com. Instagram @annieowensart
