STATEMENT
My current painting series, “Reflections: on Crossing” was inspired by my commute across the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge. I have always been fascinated with engineered structures, and interested in the juxtaposition of man-made constructions with the natural elements of the landscape. While driving across the bridge, I observe the lights and shadows cast from beams and cables onto the pavement surface. Studying the bridge reflections allows me to focus on detail areas within a broader view, seeing the abstractions in closer proximity. The patterns amongst the road lines, colors and textures of the concrete pavement provide me abstract imagery to paint.
Each painting is a unique experience and challenge. I work in oil, layering and moving paint with varied brushwork, and in the process, I discover new forms. I explore space, light, quiet, motion and temperature - elements integral to my artistic experience. Our world is inundated with imagery and distractions; in my work, I like to create a sense of mystery and calm.
There are a number of artists who have been particularly influential in my life. I admire the work of Lyonel Feininger for his use of color and space mixed with geometric form; Charles Sheeler for his compositions of bridges and structures; Robert Irwin for his varied use of light and space; and Soulages for his compositions and use of color.
Anne Subercaseaux 2010
"Following the path of Anne Subercaseaux, one can see a stylistic progression from the specificity of portraiture to the sensitive renderings of her Altamont Pass series, to this highly abstractive, yet profoundly realistic work. . . . The geometrical abstractions of understated color in this series bring to mind the quiet works of Agnes Martin, Giorgio de Chirico and Richard Diebenkorn, who, like Subercaseaux, do not use explanation points, italics or bold underlines."
Susan Hillhouse, Curator of Exhibitions, The Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz"Reflections: on Crossing" exhibit catalogue, Morris Graves Museum of Art
"She creates for viewers representations of the environment they recognize with satisfaction as familiar, and yet she gifts them with much more than representational paintings. In all her works, even the most modest, she conveys intimations of the mystery that dwells beyond the facade of the commonplace. And in her finest works, whether paintings or drawings, she conveys a sense of the sublime equilibrium
of life."
"The Art of Anne Subercaseaux"
"Anne Subercaseaux's series of oils find poetic equivalency in rolling hills and revolving windmills. The most arrestingly composed of her pieces, 'Transcendence/Transformation', is divided into thirds: midtone gray two-lane highway spliced by the double yellow line; scorched field edged in rusty weeds; misty hills with a house and windbreak nestled under the pearl-gray sky. Smack in the foreground of this lovely view, just off-center, stands the derrick of an elecrical transformer tower so massive that the top rises unseen off the canvas. The tower, which might conventionally be viewed as an intrusion, is actually the only object capturing the downcast glints of light that lend the sense of otherworldly power within the ordinary that earns the painting's title."
Ann Elliott Sherman, Critic"California Dreaming: Artists redefine the lay of the Golden State at Triton Museum."