|
The Art of ANNIE OGLE
|
The
Feminine
Spirit
The
Art
of
Annie
Ogle
By JOHN YATES
The
spirit
and
spirituality
of
women
form
the
heart
of
artist
Annie
Ogle’s
work
both
today
and
in
the
past.
Her
most
recent
work
–
colored
pencil
drawings,
for
the
most
part
–
combines
her
vision
of
both
sensual
and
detached
aspects
of
the
feminine
spirit.
One
is
struck
in
almost
equal
measures
by
the
sensuality
of
the
portraits,
and
by
the
almost
aloof
mood
reflected
in
the
women’s
faces. Ogle,
63,
is
one
of
several
talented
painters
living
and
working
on
the
Indonesian
island
of
Bali.
Like
many
of
her
contemporaries
on
the
island,
Ogle’s
work
was
initially
rooted
in
Western
traditions
but
was
reborn
under
the
influence
of
Native
Balinese
artistic
traditions
and,
perhaps,
by
the
almost
magical
influence
of
the
land
itself.
The
result
is
not
a
hybrid
as
much
as
a
completely
new
vision
of
art.
It
is
my
belief
that
the
work
done
on
Bali
in
this
vein
has
the
potential
to
redefine
art
in
the
modern
era,
and
the
drawings
of
Annie
Ogle
may
plan
a
vital
role
in
this. Ogle’s
drawings
are
firmly
grounded
in
spirituality
and
(although
not
actually
stated)
appear
to
be
based
on
aspects
of
Gaia.
Her
work
is
at
it’s
best
when
her
spiritual
vision
of
femininity
flows
naturally
from
the
subject,
rather
than
is
imposed
on
it.
“My
Temple,”
a
1999
colored
pencil
drawing
on
bristol
board,
is
an
example
of
the
best
qualities
in
her
work.
The
subject,
a
dark-haired
young
woman,
combines
earthly
sensuality
with
contemplative
detachment.
It
seems
to
be
part
of
a
conception
of
woman
that
both
draws
one
closer
and,
simultaneously,
pushes
one
away.
Significantly,
maternal
or
erotic
aspects
of
femininity
are
not
overtly
present
in
Ogle’s
work.
As
the
painting’s
title
implies,
Ogle
sees
the
woman’s
body
as
a
temple,
but
she
de-emphasizes
Earth-based
aspects
of
feminine
spirituality.
One
cannot
imagine
the
subject
digging
in
a
garden,
eating
succulent
fruit,
making
love
or
bearing
children.
Although
Balinese
artistic
traditions
are
not
present
in
this
painting,
the
style
reflects
a
combination
of
Native
Batik
work
with
traditional
European
schools.
Ogle,
however,
substitutes
a
stained
glass
motif
for
Batik
in
this
painting,
and
ceramic
motifs
in
others.
The
influence
of
Batik
on
Ogle’s
work,
while
indirect,
is
quite
clear. Perhaps
Ogle’s
sense
of
feminine
detachment
can
be
explained
by
her
paintings
“Becoming
the
Tiger”
(oil
and
rice
paper
on
canvas,
1997)
and
“The
Ritual”
(colored
pencil
on
bristol
board,
2000).
Both
reflect
spirit
animals
becoming
a
central
part
of
human
identity.
The
spirit
animals
in
both
paintings
are
large
cats,
predators
of
a
solitary,
secretive,
aloof
and
detached
nature.
In
both
paintings,
Ogle
superimposes
a
realistic
drawing/painting
of
the
cat
against
a
stylized,
abstracted
portrait
of
a
woman.
I
find
this
jolting
and
somewhat
artificial,
and
think
both
paintings
would
be
more
effective
if
the
cats
were
a
much
more
organic
part
of
the
picture.
Strangely,
the
features
and
bone
structures
of
both
cats
make
them
appear
to
be
males.
“The
Ritual”
succeeds
in
showing
the
spiritual
essence
of
cougar
that
is
organically
part
of
the
female
subject.
Ogle
does
this
both
directly
(the
woman’s
eye
markings
are
similar
to
the
cougar’s)
and
indirectly,
by
painting
the
woman’s
essence
as
reflecting
the
spirit
of
the
cat.
If
anything,
the
woman
shows
more
of
the
essence
of
cougar
than
the
depiction
of
the
cougar
itself,
which,
while
literal,
does
not
make
me
feel
its
spiritual
power. “Becoming
the
Tiger”
seems
to
represent
a
transition
period
in
Ogle’s
work,
reflecting
but
moving
significantly
beyond
the
post-impressionistic
style
of
her
earlier
pre-Bali
work,
but
not
yet
reaching
the
clarity
of
her
most
recent
work.
Ogle
worked
with
a
small
group
of
San
Francisco
artists
in
a
studio
from
1980
to
1985,
and
her
oil
paintings
during
this
period
combined
impressionistic
techniques
with
modern
use
of
almost
radioactively
bright
color
that
gave
her
subjects
the
appearance
of
being
bathed
in
infrared
light.
While
these
painting
showed
ability,
there
was
nothing
to
set
them
apart
from
other
work
during
that
period.
She
moved
to
Bali
after
she
retired
in
1985
after
a
25-year-long
career
with
Pan
Am
Airlines,
but
only
one
example
of
her
work
during
this
period
is
available.
“Waiting
in
the
Dark”
(oil
on
canvas,
1992)
is
a
portrait
of
a
woman
wearing
a
ceremonial
mask.
It
conveys
a
feeling
of
detached
fierceness,
as
if
the
subject
was
looking
at
the
viewer
with
piercing
clarity.
While
Ogle’s
use
of
color
in
this
painting
is
reminiscent
of
her
San
Francisco
years,
it
also
marks
the
emergence
of
Balinese
and
Batik
styles
in
her
work. “Keeping
the
Balance”
(colored
pencil
on
bristol
board,
1998)
seems
to
mark
another
crossroads
in
Ogle’s
work.
It
is
her
only
available
example
of
a
painting
showing
a
woman
who
is
both
earthly
and
sensual,
and
also
connected
directly
to
the
fecund
aspects
of
the
Earth.
The
feeling
of
her
later
work
is
completely
different,
showing
almost
complete
detachment
from
those
aspects
of
femininity. By
1999,
Ogle’s
work
begins
to
view
women
in
a
much
more
abstracted
light
that
is
almost
fierce.
“Waiting
for
the
Ritual
II
and
III”
(colored
pencil
on
Bristol
board,
1999)
depict
women
waiting
for
ceremonies
to
invoke
animal
spirits,
which
are
incorporated
into
the
women
subjects
much
more
organically
than
in
her
earlier
efforts
at
this
theme.
The
second
painting
in
this
series
shows
abstracted
paintings
of
vipers
on
a
woman’s
clothing,
and
her
scarf
and
face
take
on
aspects
of
a
snake:
a
poisonous
snake
of
the
viper
family
that,
like
all
of
Ogle’s
spirit
animals,
also
conveys
the
possibility
of
danger
to
anyone
who
comes
too
close.
The
third
painting
in
this
series
is
an
abstracted
recreation
of
the
tiger
spirit,
and
the
woman
subject
appears
completely
unapproachable. By
2000,
some
of
Ogle’s
work
shows
a
different
kind
of
detachment.
“Stillness
in
the
Garden”
(colored
pencil
on
Bristol
board)
depicts
the
serene
detachment
of
a
contemplative
woman
in
a
peaceful
garden.
The
woman
is
in
the
garden,
but
not
of
the
garden.
Her
eyes
show
her
to
be
completely
removed
from
her
surroundings.
The
garden
appears
as
a
stage
for
the
woman
to
seek
visions
into
non-earthly
realms. “Contemplation
in
Color”
(colored
pencil
on
Bristol
board,
1999)
is
a
portrait
of
a
highly
abstracted
and
almost
depersonalized
woman
surrounded
by
what
might
be
called
an
aura
of
brightly
colored
Batik
work.
The
woman
has
no
hair,
has
indistinct
features
and
her
body,
while
feminine,
is
not
clearly
defined.
It
seems
to
portray
the
woman
as
without
individual
identity,
but
surrounded
by
a
defining
aura
of
Balinese
tradition,
color
and
light. This
vision
of
human
abstraction
reaches
its
conclusion
in
2000
in
“Afternoon
in
Orange”
(a
diptych
of
two
drawings
of
colored
pencil
on
Bristol
board).
The
subjects
are
fully
stripped
of
individual
identity
and,
in
the
second
drawing,
the
woman
is
only
indistinctly
recognizable
as
human.
They
are
surrounded
by
auras
of
ceramic
motifs
that
are
presented
as
if
they
are
batik.
In
the
first
painting
in
this
series,
the
woman
appears
to
be
focused
completely
on
something
off
of
the
canvas,
but
her
face
shows
no
sign
of
recognition
or
response. Ogle’s
work
is
important
both
for
its
use
and
evolution
of
technique,
and
also
for
the
vision
of
women
it
presents.
I
am,
quite
frankly,
uncomfortable
with
that
vision
because
I
see
it
as
detached
from
the
earth,
from
humanity
and
ultimately
from
life
itself.
Nonetheless,
it
is
a
vision
that
many
contemporary
women
seem
to
be
adopting
for
themselves,
and
Ogle’s
work
represents
perhaps
the
most
advanced,
sophisticated
and
skillful
expression
I
have
seen
of
this
view
of
woman’s
essence. Ogle’s
work
may
be
viewed
or
purchased
online
through
Pranoto’s
Gallery,
which
is
at
the
center
of
what
might
be
called
the
Balinese
Renaissance
of
modern
art
(http://www.age.jp/~pranoto).
Ogle
has
been
attending
modeling
groups
at
this
gallery
for
many
years,
and,
along
with
gallery
manager
Kerry
Pendergrast,
co-founded
the
Seniwati
Women’s
Art
Gallery
in
1994. A native of Minnesota, Ogle grew up in a farming community, attended the Minneapolis School of Arts in the late 1950’s, worked for Pan Am Airlines for 25 years and traveled all over the world, and was drawn to Bali for what she sees as its spiritual and healing energy. She lives in a secluded spot in Bali’s Sayan Valley that overlooks the Ayung River and rising rice terraces. |
