Interview with Arkansas Art Scene Blog
December 5, 2022
“Sometimes things work out well, sometimes they return to the studio floor. I find that when the outcome is successful, I am really pleased with finding resolve in something so unlikely to have found that place of rest.”
SOUND WAVES, excerpt of essay by Rachel Golden, Making Waves: Striation Paintings by Donnie Copeland, Justus Fine Art, August 2018.
“Copeland’s striated collage paintings have been likened to “strata” of the earth or the contour line drawings of a topographic map. Even the artist’s materials—the earthen color palette and the fibrous texture of Hosho, a paper made from mulberry—seem to emphasize natural elements. The artist himself, however, would prefer the viewer to appreciate the work as a non-objective composition, without reference to other visual themes. In fact, Copeland has felt limited by representational work in the sense that the subject directs the form of the composition, to some extent, lessening the opportunity.”
Rachel Golden, August 2018
Catalog excerpt from Boundary Hunters exhibit, Alfred, NY
“Bent curvilinear bands are painted on paper and then affixed to the canvas which in turn serves as a platform for the abstractions. There is a definitive point of distinction between the paper, paint and canvas. Copeland’s paintings suggest cross-sections of ambiguous natural forms or… geological structures and sedimentary materials. Through his investigation of charcoal, acrylic and paper, Copeland’s lyrical strata emerge as both rich and detached. The worked-over surface of the collage elements contradicts the austerity of the pristine canvases.”
Eric Sutphin, Boundary Hunters: Four Parts to Every Story. Exhibit Catalog, 2012.
See the catalog, https://issuu.com/rachaelw25/docs/bhcatalog
Press:
Faller, A. (2022, February 25). UA little rock to host exhibit by Donnie Copeland. News. https://ualr.edu/news/2022/02/28/donnie-copeland-exhibit/
Ford, K. (2018, August 18). Justus Fine Art Gallery set to host "Making Waves: Striation Paintings by Donnie Copeland". THE IDLE CLASS. http://idleclassmag.com/justus-fine-art-gallery-set-host-making-waves-striation-paintings-donnie-copeland/
Ford, K. (2017, September 27). Justus Fine Art Gallery presents "Fall Patterns" show. THE IDLE CLASS.
http://idleclassmag.com/justus-fine-art-gallery-presents-fall-patterns-show/
Williams, R. (2017, June 8). 5 art events for your Weekend. Dallas Observer.