Fragile Beauty

Each image was created by digitally combining a painting with a photograph. The composite images were printed with pigment inks on paper, linen canvas, metal or film, which was used as a monoprint to transfer onto the fresco surfaces. The printed images, 24" x 24", (diptychs 24" x 48"), were further worked with traditional art materials including oils, pastels, colored pencil and encaustic. The final pieces are one-of-a- kind. Donna Rosetti Bailey and Viola Kaumlen provided source photographs. Their contributions are gratefully acknowledged.

So transportive are Dorothy Simpson Krause’s new digital collages, that the viewer is placed in the work, looking for their shadow in the richly patterned foreground, longing for something that cannot be put into words. Or perhaps it is in the artist’s shoes the viewer finds herself, walking sacred ground.

Dorothy captures the fleeting essence of unadulterated nature, the rare patches of land where humans have only tiptoed and whispered, where the mass impact of our human existence has somehow been held at bay.

Sensitive to these fearfully brief passages, Dorothy has been working for two years to pay homage to the land and share the sadness that accompanies her appreciation. There is a tension between lush atmosphere and details as delicate as a butterfly wings. This feeling is captured by blending photography, paint, frescos, metal and graphite. The work is tinged with melancholy, knowing that we can hold these images only because they have been stopped in time. Dorothy’s newest project Fragile Beauty transforms landscapes into mindscapes. She has infused her most beautiful work with intense meaning.

Abigail Ross, Director/ Curator
judi rotenberg gallery LLC