Ramsey: Curriculum Vitae

Like most good friends, Washington, DC artists Sondra N. Arkin and Mary Beth Ramsey have similar worldviews. Each believes that our lives are shaped by a countless array of emotions, experiences and other influences that layer one upon another to define us as individuals. How they influence us affects how we influence others. The layers become both a part of us and a part of our legacies.

The artists' approach to art is guided by this notion of a layered life. Although their styles have historically been very different (Arkin's has been largely abstract and Ramsey's has been more rooted in literal imagery), each of them builds her work one layer at a time, remaining sensitive to the impact that each layer has on the others. In a sense, their art is a metaphor for life. Success lies in balancing the layers and controlling them in a way that favors positive influences over negative ones.

The works in "Poetic License" reflect the importance that both artists place on legacy—how the many layers of influence that shape our own lives affect the impact we will have on the world (and what we can do to try to control the result). For this show, the artists wanted to explore how influence shapes outcome. Instead of continuing on the individual artistic paths that each of them has followed until now, they agreed to work in a style - mixed-media assemblage - that is new to them, and they maintained a nearly daily dialogue while preparing for the show. By collaborating in this way, the artists opened their work up to new ideas and to the inevitable influences of each other.

They have created a series of works that incorporate bits of old letters, photographs, diary entries (including the artists' own), bible passages, forgotten books, obscure poems, obsolete typewriter parts and a variety of other items that relate to the process of creating and preserving legacy. The artists selected items that had become largely forgotten and gave them new purpose. These items essentially reached across time to say something to the artists, and the artists have used them to say something to us. By doing so, they make the point that our own relevance does not necessarily end when we die. It is a hopeful message that will live on for as long as these works remain.

For more about Sondra Arkin, visit her webpage at www.sondranarkin.com.

For more about Mary Beth Ramsey, visit her webpage at www.mbramsey.com.