Melinda Camber Porter

Barcelona Point Series

The Barcelona Point series comprises fifteen works of oil on canvas, of which twelve canvases are sized 60 inches by 48 inches and three canvases are 36 inches by 60 inches. The series was begun in June 1997 and completed in early September 1998. Barcelona Point refers to a seascape of high dunes and nature preserve off the Atlantic Ocean, in the area of Sag Harbor, New York.

The relationship between the painted surface and unpainted immaterial surface, which is explored in the Barcelona Point Series, is explored differently in The Triptych Series. In the Barcelona Point Series an attempt was made to give the unpainted surface a stronger presence than the more material surface that is covered with oils. In The Triptych Series the spatial relationship between painted and unpainted surface relates to time and memory.

The Barcelona Point Series focused on the substantiality and immateriality of the painted and unpainted spaces in an attempt to use the paint almost as a metaphor for spiritual and material reality. In contrast The Triptych Series uses painted and unpainted space to retrieve a completely different significance from the varying textures: the journey from painted to unpainted space is a journey in time that refers to a narrative. Most elements in the series, be they the shape of the canvas or the dividing lines, are used to refer to movement in time and the passage of emotion.

click here to view Works on Paper	Paintings, Oil on Canvas • The Triptych Series • Barcelona Point Series • Night Angel Series • Art of Love Tour • Horses of Chauvet Series
Is This What You Asked of Me? Light Breaking Through the Material World Tryst	The Triptych Series The Triptych Series consists of a series of twenty-seven large oils on canvas exploring the triptych form as both altarpiece and sculptural shape. However, the traditional subject matter of the altarpiece is merely hinted at, with only occasional apparitions of guiding saints and visiting angels who bless the lovers’ union that is the central theme of the series. The artist commenced the series in February 2000 and completed it in May 2001. The three panels, which are either Gothic curves or rectangular shapes, nevertheless are all characterized by a dividing line with hinges which allow one to open and close the triptych. These dividers represent aspects of movement and transformation. Each line that cuts open the canvas is not only a cutting motion into the entirety of the painting but is also a moment in time when change occurs. In many ways the dividing lines are mysterious and alchemical. On the other hand, there is a brutality within the dividing line that breaks open the emotion of the work and almost ravages it. This characteristic “cutting action” of the dividers is also mirrored in the way that language is undermined in the series. Poetic imagery, which acts as the point of departure or inspiration for the work, is erased and often illegible; diary fragments appear, suggesting an autobiographical content to the paintings but are erased, scratched over, and later covered by commentary or poetry. Language never summarizes the emotion of the painting, but the calligraphic texture of the words and colors of the letters prevail. The Triptych Series served as the inspiration for the rock opera, Journey to Benares.
Mandala for My Father Curves of Infinity's Flesh	Barcelona Point Series The Barcelona Point series comprises fifteen works of oil on canvas, of which twelve canvases are sized 60 inches by 48 inches and three canvases are 36 inches by 60 inches. The series was begun in June 1997 and completed in early September 1998. Barcelona Point refers to a seascape of high dunes and nature preserve off the Atlantic Ocean, in the area of Sag Harbor, New York. The relationship between the painted surface and unpainted immaterial surface, which is explored in the Barcelona Point Series, is explored differently in The Triptych Series. In the Barcelona Point Series an attempt was made to give the unpainted surface a stronger presence than the more material surface that is covered with oils. In The Triptych Series the spatial relationship between painted and unpainted surface relates to time and memory. The Barcelona Point Series focused on the substantiality and immateriality of the painted and unpainted spaces in an attempt to use the paint almost as a metaphor for spiritual and material reality. In contrast The Triptych Series uses painted and unpainted space to retrieve a completely different significance from the varying textures: the journey from painted to unpainted space is a journey in time that refers to a narrative. Most elements in the series, be they the shape of the canvas or the dividing lines, are used to refer to movement in time and the passage of emotion.
The Night Garden The Assumption	Night Angel Series Five large oils on canvas (varying from 48 by 36 inches to 52 by 36 inches) were the backdrops to the Lincoln Center performance of the one-woman musical Night Angel (book, lyrics, and visuals by Melinda Camber Porter; music by Carman Moore). Spotlights illuminated and darkened aspects of the oils to reveal a visual narrative which wedded to the character's emotional journey. Couple Making Love By Water
Transcendence Dans Un Delire Parralele	Art of Love Tour Forty oils on canvas and watercolors were selected by Leo Castelli to form the basis of a traveling exhibition of the artist's works, entitled The Art of Love, which toured fifteen states in the United States from 1993 to 1997. The selection of paintings represented the curatorial vision of Castelli and was culled from the artist's works executed over a period of eight years. A catalogue, entitled The Art of Love (Writers & Readers) contained several paintings from the exhibition that accompanied a selection of fifty-five of the author's poems on the theme of love. • for further information see the Art of Love Tour
The Triumph of Nature	Horses of Chauvet Series Horses of Chauvet Series, is a work-in-progress which involves paintings and notes towards a theatrical piece. Melinda, inspired by her love of horses and the images of horses painted on the Chauvet Caves in France over 30,000 thousand years ago, is currently at work on a series of small oils-on-board and large oils-on-canvas. She has also been working on lyrics and a plot for a theatrical piece involving the paintings.
	see list of Exhibitions and Published Works
	The Works of Melinda Camber Porter info@camberporter.org copyright©2004 Melinda Camber Porter