For the joy of Painting

Milly Ristvedt was born in British Columbia in 1942 and studied at the Vancouver School of Art from 1960 - 1964. She was picked up by the Carmen Lamanna Gallery four years later and has an impressive series of exhibitions in major galleries across Canada ever since, including the National Gallery of Canada.

Ristvedt's body of work belongs to a long list of artists who, through their practice, investigate color, surface, form and the interplay between all three. Artist's including Jack Bush, Ray Mead, Bruce O'Neil and Gershon Iskowitz come to mind. That said, her work embodies an intuitive personal statement that is unmistakingly her own.


This painting was on the same rack as two of my favorite works in the collection by David Bolduc and I had to fight the impulse to choose one of those. I was specifically looking for something that would work next to Relief Structure by Ronald Kustyniuk as I didn't think there would be too many options in our collection that could hold their own next to such a strong piece.

In the past, I had overlooked the Ristvedt numerous times because on the rack it appears washed out and weak. But, in the spirit of the Smack Down, I would give this work a chance, try to learn more about lesser known works in the collection, and see how it stood up in the space. After all, there was a musical quality to the composition that I felt just might resonate with the Kustyniuk.

What a delightful surprise! The work looked amazingly different in the gallery against the red wall with proper lighting. Rather than washed out the surface of the canvas came alive as the strokes of color seemed to break free from their surrounding atmosphere of color. WOW! The space created in this composition, purely by the application of color was amazing.

The artist scrubs, sponges and brushes the paint which, together with the exhuberant color choices, activates the surface. With prolonged consideration, the colors and forms begin to float in four dimensions out toward the viewer, creating a tension between the flatness of the ground and the implied illusion of overlapping shapes. The forms animate the surface with a visual energy. At the same time there is an overall sense of calm as the swatches of color sing harmoniously together, but are held firmly on their own plane - a sense of order that is experienced like a suspension in time.

It's as if the strokes of color break free from their surrounding atmosphere of color but remain trapped on their designated plane. NICE!!

Lisa