PAULA JEANINE BENNETT
AMERICAN CREATIVE
VISUAL ART
mixed-media assemblage, art & sound installation
interactive installation
"Paula’s approach to her work is both well-thought out and experimental all at once. She researches her subjects thoroughly and then approaches the work with fresh eyes, open to discovery of materials and an opportunity to go deeper into her ideas. I have been impressed by the wide range of themes in her work from deep personal expression to a brisk critique of our political present." An Gates - book artist
FLOOR GATE (2022)
FLOOR GATE
acrylic on plastic-backed burlap, 24’ x 5’ interactive
Floor Gate is a sophisticated dance pattern, inspired by the shapely mosaics of Bab Boujloud, the famous Blue Gate of Fes, Morocco. It is meant to be absorbed visually and kinetically and can either be displayed on the floor or wall. Floor Gate contains an affirmation in the center, “Yes We Have Hope”. As it was created in the third year of COVID, the work encourages viewers to be participants in an active moving process, dancing at the nexus of art and architecture to find new spirit.
FLOOR GATE dance event, BWAC Gallery, Brooklyn waterfront, October 2022
THE HANDSHAKE SERIES (2020)
Works created during Paula's artist residency at Brooklyn's notable Plymouth Church. Responding to the history of the space, her panels include an 1864 illustration by William Momberger chronicling the life of Lincoln.
Transference
knotted cloth, metal mesh, thread, paper 15.5" diameter
Consider The Handshake
cloth, paper, burlap, acrylic 39" x 18"
THE STOLEN THING (2019)
The Stolen Thing is an interactive art and sound installation: eight embellished panels of photographed poses derived from Paula's symbolist poetry. Episodic in nature, viewers are encouraged to mirror each pose and move from panel to panel in a meditative state. Through these actions, participants become a living part of the installation. Enhancing the experience is an atmospheric soundscape including percussion, piano, spoken word and ambient sonic textures. Themes in the work include conflict, loss, solitude, mystery of faith, hope and renewal.
Essential to The Stolen Thing is model and muse Monique B. Bomba, Paula's longtime artistic collaborator. She gave herself to the experience with an astonishing openness and trust, honoring and enlivening the work.
The Stolen Thing/Eglise Notre Dame de l'Assomption,
Marnay-Sur-Seine, France
Installation walk-through
Monique & Madonna
The Stolen Thing/BWAC, Red Hook, Brooklyn
"Grand Installations, Spatial Relations" exhibit
The Stolen Thing/Hyphen Space, Plymouth Church, Brooklyn Heights
COLLECTIONS (2018-ongoing)
Seine Collection (2019)
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Collections is a photography series reflecting Paula’s travels. Gathered objects are arranged so that unusual confluences evoke further reflection. As of 2021 there are five Collections:
Kaamos, Fioritura, Cayman, Seine and Morocco.
THE PASSAGEWAY (2016)
Meant as a transitory space, The Passageway explored time, otherness and the enclosed lives of women. Inspired by the ancient haik, a wrapped white garment still worn by Moroccan women, and the writings of Paul Bowles.
Treated fabric and paper, scent of bitter oranges and soundscape.
BWAC Galleries, Red Hook, Brooklyn.
I AM WITH YOU (2015)
I Am With You is a soundscape featuring Walt Whitman's poem "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" deconstructed and recited by Paula. Commissioned for the "Crossings" art exhibit on Governor's Island, NYC where it was presented in a crumbling room within a nineteenth century house on Colonel’s Row.
THE WHISPER GARDEN (2013)
A site-specific interactive art installation for spoken word and dance created in honor of the centennial of Perry-Mansfield Arts Camp, Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
The Whisper Garden celebrated the founders of the camp, allowing participants to make personal creative contributions through movement, speech and sound. Visitors performed a guided series of slow reverences in the meditative and ethereal environment. Underscoring the experience was Paula’s multi-layered continuous musical collage,
derived from a score she composed for choreographer Antonio Brown's "Breezes Of Remembrance”, also created for the centennial.
images and audio here
