Essay

“Art should always make us laugh a little, and be frightened a little.”
Jean Dubuffet

Surrounded by paintings and sculptures in Sally S. Bennett’s studio, initially I am disoriented, not knowing what is up or down. I feel like I have been dropped into a vibrant, colorful ocean reef, alive with thousands of swarming, swirling sea creatures. Just as a visit to a colorful reef takes a few moments to adjust to, moments later these paintings take on their own traits and personality.

Every surface of Sally’s paintings and sculptures is covered with paint and pattern, creating a vibrant, energy-charged backdrop. Golden ochre, burnt orange, crimson red, cobalt blue, and emerald green march across the surface, jockeying for attention. Building blocks of color, scratchboard lines, flowers, hearts, ladders, stars are all laid down and repeated again.

But in Sally’s art, pattern means more than sameness and repetition: critical evidence appears like clues in a game. Grainy wooden floor slats float above pieces of painted lace; tightly entwined black rope corrals collaged pieces of paper, and though it all, a myriad of graffiti-like scratchings compete for attention. Layer upon layer of raw paint peeks out from scraped and scrubbed canvas. “The layering and repetitive patterns felt so comfortable, so meditative. Once the rhythm begins, the story grows,” explains Bennett.

Several years ago, Sally’s energized paintings could no longer contain her ever expanding vision. Now she is creating simple house shapes and fantasy furniture, all compulsively covered with her cast of wide-eyed characters and hysterical hieroglyphics. Old hammers, discarded table legs, rusted wagon wheels or elegant piano parts have been appropriated, painted and used to prop up these psychedelic shelters. They bump and jostle for attention with the paintings in Sally’ studio. (Inside these wildly colorful boxes one wonders what strange assortment of cartoon spirits dance in the cluttered darkness).

For a moment, I loose focus on the paintings and sculptures surrounding and crowding me. Images break apart into a kaleidoscope of intense color. Streams of light coming from a window reflect particles of swirling dust. I feel like I am back in the crystal clear water, floating in front of a secret world.

Geoffrey Gorman
Santa Fe, New Mexico 2005