See your reflection in Ana Kelly’s art

“reflexions du voyeur”

Ana Kelly

Feb. 29, 2004

The Quiet Storm

5430 Penn…

“reflexions du voyeur”

Ana Kelly

Feb. 29, 2004

The Quiet Storm

5430 Penn Ave, Garfield, (412) 661-9355

See your own indifference

Your face is in Ana Kelly’s art. Through the use of mirrors and mirrored surfaces in her newest series of paintings, “reflexions du voyeur,” Kelly incorporates the viewer into the artistic process, making each a collaborator.

In most of the pieces, you see your eyes, cheek or the side of your mouth reflected back to you in thin shards of mirror that are arranged around globular designs of paint. You are forced to confront your own reaction to Kelly’s art and see yourself in the context of the surface patterns and tensions she has created.

Unfortunately, that reaction will probably fall somewhere between apathy and mild amusement being able to fix your hair in the surface of a painting.

The abstract works have interesting texture and an almost annoying attention to balance, but little more. There’s a general lack of variation — most of the works conveyed only simple surface designs. Only a few of Kelly’s pieces elicit the feelings of violence, emotion or “voyeurism” for which she seems to aim.

Most of the pieces are small, 8-by-8-inch squares with some combination of acrylic and mirrors on wood, occasionally including ash and enamel. “Zieleny” is representative of the group because it is primed with one solid, matte color that is overlaid with thick splotches of paint in four shades that have been slightly intermingled by the swirling of the palette knife and paint tube. Two shards of mirror lie in that bulbous explosion at the composition’s center, one with a clean surface, the other slightly smudged with blue.

Though each piece is slightly different from its neighbor — sometimes the mirrors are offset by the paint build-up between them, as in “biely;” sometimes the paint and mirrors are generally centered, as in “goluboy” — they all have the same basic formula. The general results are non-abrasive combinations of contours and colors that create a mild sense of energy.

However, the show isn’t a totally indifferent experience. If you’re already in the Garfield area, or planning on hitting the Quiet Storm for some coffee, there are a few pieces worth pondering.

In “sins of the mother,” two small mirror shards are next to one another, diagonally above a larger piece that has been thickly splashed with red paint. The paint pools on the dagger-like fragment at the bottom, and a spray of it points up toward the other pieces of mirror. The white background, severe mirror edges and blood-like, red paint suggest a surprising amount of violence.

“worship something” is a large mirror with a message written across it in marker, most of which is concealed beneath fat strokes of black. Your reflection, and the large room behind you, are visible between lines and behind the phrases that talk of the “recesses of our hearts” and note that what “we are worshipping we are becoming.” This piece alone elicits the feeling of being a voyeur, as if what is left of this message was not meant for your eyes.