Amy Reel, a Central Indiana artist, explores the boundaries between a casual, personal encounter and a formal gallery viewing. She interacts with the various subjects she paints into portraits.
Reel confesses that her subjects are afraid to see themselves on such a large scale, since she paints them soaring at 8 feet tall.
“We all have to contend with prejudices against ourselves and others. They cannot hide their faces when they are 8 feet tall,” she says.
Her exhibit is called “Exchange” in reference to the exchange of secrets and the welcoming of a viewer into a hyper-intimate world.
With her exhibition opening at Gallery 94 on April 5 as part of the IDADA First Gallery Tour, Reel develops her creativity from her day job teaching at Oaks Academy.
Her inspiration spills out at night in her studio where the process to create her artwork takes about 20 to 40 hours.
“The children inspire me. My inspiration comes from making connections with people and observing them. Seeing my kids recognize or create beauty and how excited they get when they accomplish something impacts me,” Reel said.
Shannon Linker, director of Artists Services and Gallery 924, says “Exchange” will be different than an ordinary gallery. Linker imagines the portraits will be set up like one is walking through the forest, but instead of being surrounded by trees it’ll be large paintings.
“Reel’s large scale of paintings drew us in. The viewer can walk through these enormous faces ranging in various cultures, ages and races. We want you to walk through them and amongst them. Seeing them up close is really impressive,” said Linker.
According to Linker, everyone can relate to the idea of the face. We often can connect on a deeper level with images that relate to who we are, she said.
The countenance was exactly what Reel wanted to focus on.
“People will interact with enormous portraits in a different way than if they were smaller,” Reel explains. “Small paintings you can observe and walk away. Ones that are this large tend to have a presence of their own, and look back at the viewer. I’m hoping the people that come to the show will have the experience of not just looking, but have an exchange and interact.”
