Phyllis Bryce Ely
contemporary painting in oil and encaustic wax from the studio and en plein air
×
Not My Father’s Iceberg:
A collaboration of paintings by Phyllis Bryce Ely and photographs by Joseph Loder Bryce, 2018
“I am influenced by my father’s eye for composition, form, and light, as well as his interest in telling stories inspired by place. These same attributes have become the very context of my work...I invite you to take a look at my contemporary consideration of a decades-old Arctic landscape that once was my father’s place in the world. ”
A peek behind the scenes. Bottom left (in two) is my Dad at age 84 with an exhibit of his photographs that opened on Veterans Day, 2014. Collage by Hannah Bryce Ely
The gallery below features my father’s Arctic photographs and my responses to them in paint.
Click through to see full images, hover for details and availability; price guide. If viewing gallery on a mobile device, click on an image, then click on tiny dot lower right to see captions.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
I began painting this body of work in 2015 following the passing of my father, Joseph Loder Bryce. Loder was a US Navy aerial photographer in the 1950s cold war era aboard the USS Edisto icebreaker in the North Atlantic. His ship supported the US and Canadian navies as they installed the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line) along the 69th parallel in the Arctic, making it the northernmost radar system. The DEW line reduced the warning time of possible Soviet attack.
His work
The USS Edisto took my father and his camera throughout the North Atlantic to photograph sea and air missions, life aboard ship, and the extreme beauty of the Arctic landscape and its inhabitants. Photographing ships and the exotic natural worlds of Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland, and Arctic waters became his work and creative inspiration.
I grew up with Loder’s Navy photographs in my life; they were my go-to choice for “show and tell” and I loved to share the icebergs, people, polar bears, and frozen ships with my friends. The images, shapes, places, and people I felt I knew—but never personally experienced—became my visual foundation. Forty-plus years later, I realize I am influenced by my father’s eye for composition, form, and light, as well as his interest in telling stories inspired by place. These same attributes have become the very context of my work.
My work
After he passed, I found myself in the box of Loder’s photos again, struck by the old familiar shapes and simple black and white format. No longer able to hear his stories about the images, I began a new conversation with my paintbrush. I had no expectation as I painted one iceberg, then some polar bears, and then a ship…one by one his photos found their way into my studio and a body of work materialized that I now call Not My Father’s Iceberg.
My first paintings were in oil on a vivid red ground that I typically use when painting en plein air. The vibration of the limited, cool palette against the red quickly appealed to me. I connected with the raw edges of color as I worked, excited by how the colors created an emotional response and opposing feelings of calm and urgency—feelings that, given the decades that have passed between our work, also connect to the urgency of climate change. I also chose to paint some of these works in encaustic wax because of the rich texture and intimate scale made possible by that medium.
As I finished each painting I tucked the work away, knowing I wanted them to be together. I set a goal of pulling the photographs and paintings together for a posthumous collaborative show, which led to my exhibit Not My Father’s Iceberg at the Main Street Arts Gallery in Clifton Springs, New York in 2018.
I am grateful to gallery director Bradley Butler for his early interest in these paintings, which he first saw when my first iceberg painting (Not My Father’s Iceberg) was juried into the Utopia/Dystopia exhibit at Main Street Arts in 2017 and was awarded “Best in Show.”
I invite you to take a look at my contemporary consideration of a decades-old Arctic landscape that once was my father’s place in the world.
See photographs of the exhibit: https://www.artsy.net/show/main-street-arts-not-my-fathers-iceberg
