Ro Snell explores the expanse of nature at the Elverhoj Museum

The work of an artist is colored by a lifetime of experiences. Thoughts, memories, and emotions swirl together in an alchemical dance, crystallizing into a creation that could potentially color the experiences and inhabit the minds of others.

Abstract artist Ro Snell is no different, and when wandering her acres-wide property in Santa Ynez, taking in the vista around her, she can’t help but think of her childhood home in Worcestershire, England, and the rolling hills and farmland there. The currently featured exhibit at the Elverhoj Museum of History and Art, Ro Snell: Outside In, includes pieces inspired by both her past and current homelands.

click to enlarge Ro Snell explores the expanse of nature at the Elverhoj Museum
IMAGE COURTESY OF SUSAN BELLONI
THE POWER OF TREE: Some of the pieces in Ro Snell: Outside In use silk screen-printing techniques, such as 'Another Year.'

“I come from an area where there are a lot of rolling hills, farm country, cattle, and oak trees,” Snell said. “Though they are a different variety of the ones here, there are a lot of stately oak trees that line the roads there.”

Those hills, valleys, and trees serve as Snell’s inspiration in a variety of media. The exhibit includes mixed-media collage, printmaking, and even sculpture, all assembled to convey a feeling of the outside world within the confined space of a gallery like that of the Elverhoj Museum. With a variety of techniques at her disposal, Snell is aiming for pieces that reflect the whole show and a whole show that reflects its pieces.

Some pieces include artifacts found on her property in Santa Ynez that are treated in a variety of ways. Branches, long since bare of bark, are wrapped in paper treated with earthy pigments, figuratively restoring the wizened wood to its once live state. Snell particularly keeps her 
eyes open for anything that appears aged by 
the elements.

“This show is about the connections I feel about the land and the objects in nature that are affected by time,” she said. “With the found objects, it’s usually something that hasn’t been disturbed for a long time, which is kind of ironic, because I guess I do disturb it and take it out of its context. But the reason for doing so is sharing it with the viewer and showing them something that maybe they didn’t notice.”

Snell has education and work experience in printmaking, so the exhibit also features silk screen prints of her drawings, usually inspired by photographs taken outside, she explained. Other hanging works include collages employing strips of paper also treated with pigments, which give a sense of landscape, though far from a literal depiction. Snell tries not to impose too much of her will on these works, she explained, but go with the flow the work naturally suggests.

Ro Snell explores the expanse of nature at the Elverhoj Museum
TAKE IT IN: The Elverhoj Museum of History and Art presents the exhibit Ro Snell: Outside In showing through April 12. An artist reception is Jan. 31 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the museum, 1624 Elverhoy Way, Solvang. More info: 686-1211 or elverhoj.org.

“I think there’s a certain rhythm that goes through my work, and it has to do with the repetitive actions of wrapping, binding, and pairing,” she said. “I do work very intuitively; these rhythmic and repetitive actions require time and patience, that to me, gives me an intellectual and sort of spiritual satisfaction.”

Many of the pieces in Ro Snell: Outside In are inspired solely by the artists’ hilly English homeland, with many others coming from her time in Santa Ynez. Snell started some of the works after she conceptualized the idea for the show, she explained, hoping that these pieces would tie together all the rest. She did this with the Elverhoj Museum’s main gallery space specifically in mind.

Snell’s quest to bring the expansive outside world into a confined space is mirrored by those who view the show, taking the exhibit into the inner world of their mind. It’s what happens when this inner experience is brought back outside again that excites the artist, as her feelings and memories of the world begin to color the lives of others.

“I have talked to people who have seen my work and they say that they go outside and look at things differently,” she said, “That is a big reward for me, when someone says they can identify with something or connect with it in a new way.”

 

Arts Editor Joe Payne can’t stop staring at the 
tree branches outside the Sun’s office window. Contact him at [email protected].

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