This exhibition, The Field, is a meditation on an area of open land that I have been using as a subject for over 30 years. It has influenced both representational and abstract work. In March of 2020 I worked on a group of sumi ink drawings based on that field in what is probably its bleakest month. I was drawn to the empty space and to the relationships between trees and the field.
William Kooistra, Field Drawing 7, ink/gouache, 14x17” 2009
I began watercolors and drawings of this field behind my house almost immediately after moving there. The purpose of most of the watercolors was to understand the effects of different light, times of day and seasons. I paid close attention to concerns about space and to a lesser extent, texture. The color I used was mostly local though with an emphasis on warm and cool relationships. I worked this way on and off for about 18 years. Through out that time I was also making multi panel landscape based paintings and the field watercolors often acted as studies.
In 2010, I decided to take a different approach, making paintings in specific series based on drawings I started in 2008. These works were involved with using various materials and approaches to mark making. I spent about five years on those paintings along with other abstract paintings that were influenced by the field drawings. One of the series from that time is included in this show.
William Kooistra, March I, oil on panel, 12x12”, 2020
Soon after beginning the drawings in 2020, I started painting the field again first making four small works on wood panels. These paintings were directly related to the ink drawings and their color and the empty open spaces reflect the field in March or early April. As the field changed over the year, I followed it making other paintings concentrating on seasonal color changes and the life of the field itself. In contrast to earlier work based on the field, these paintings are more concerned with the material of paint and treating the field, plants or trees as a surface. Recessional space is limited as color and textures are relied upon to convey the seasonal change. That said, I do not intend these works to be overly analytic or objective. In choosing colors and paint application, I am trying to recreate the mood I felt while looking at the field in March of 2020. I live in a suburban setting, so for me this field is a place of contemplation and conveying that feeling is really the motivation behind these works.
The Field will run from November 3 through November 26, 2023. The opening for the show will be on Friday, November 3, 2023 from 5-8pm.
Buster Levi Gallery is open Saturday and Sunday from 12-5 pm.