Softly Clouded Abstractions: Art by Svetlana Barker
After a career in fashion design, Svetlana Barker turned to painting later in life after moving to Colorado. Her current portfolio is filled with softly clouded abstractions and landscapes that reflect a calmness and centered view of the environment.
I like the comparison to fashion that naturally arises when one learns of Svetlana’s background – the works look like undulating layers of tulle or another soft fabric, kind of like the works of Benjamin Shine, though with less of a figurative intent. I’m especially impressed by Svetlana’s oil landscape paintings, which tend toward soft, pale colors and mountainous forms that are abstracted enough to read as mere suggestions, allowing the viewer to project and interpret their own image of a space.
In other galleries, like her small sized landscapes and abstract paintings, Svetlana favours harder, darker brush marks and more defined shapes. The small landscapes are overwhelmingly painted with a blue wash, and feature imagery like flowers and trees. In her abstractions, Svetlana seems inspired by classical abstraction and surrealism, creating a blend of geometric shapes and frenetic brush strokes.
