Helene Wilder Ageless icons at Commencement
Review by Alec Clayton published in Tacoma City Paper, September 1999Everything old is new again in the art of Helen Wilder. Wilder creates scrolls from woodcut prints and crayon rubbings from wood blocks, and she creates assembled iconic alters made of objects in wooden boxes – all with an ancient look and subject matter reminiscent of Medieval religious art. All of these are things that have become far too popular of late. Everybody's doing it. But in Wilder's hands it becomes something new and exciting. She has infused new life into old techniques, most noticeably in her contemporary investigation into the hoary medium of wood block printing. For starters, woodcuts traditionally consist of carefully and slowly rendered lines and shading made by grouping short lines in patterned areas, a look we are familiar with from early book illustrations. Wilder gives a nod of acknowledgement to this tradition, but she also uses marks that look like spontaneous brushstrokes and pencil marks that are seemingly impossible to make through the tedious method of gouging marks in wood. And she integrates the art with the process of making it, combining the prints and the blocks from which they were made into holistic works of art.Wilder's exhibit, "The Keepsake," at Commencement Art Gallery is made up of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional works. Going into the main gallery are boxes with removable wooden lids. The lids are wood blocks. Inside each box is a portfolio that opens up to reveal a scroll print made from the block. Next to these are boxes that look like Medieval alters. Inside each are painted angels made of wood, glass and bent metal strips combined with various found objects. These richly complex figures are carefully crafted and demand slow and careful study. Inside the main gallery, the walls are filled with hanging scrolls averaging about six feet in height. Most of these include two figures, one male and one female, with roughly hewn contours and painted in soft tones of gold, burnt orange and a grayed turquoise on a background of white and gray. The markings on the backgrounds look like soft charcoal smudges. All but three of these are made from crayon rubbings from wood blocks on what appears to be rice paper. They are attached to the wall with red ribbons and the bottom edges of these scrolls fall into little boxes on the floor whose lids are carved and inked wood blocks in stark black and white. Each of these little boxes into which the scrolls can be packed looks like a little sarcophagus. Twenty of these scrolls line the walls. Wilder's skill as a draftsman is highlighted in these works where she melds traditional print techniques with free and spontaneous drawing and delicate shading. As a group, they make an impressive installation. And they are equally intriguing when viewed as individual pieces.
Finally, three of the wood blocks from which these prints were made are hung in a group. At first glance, these look like more printed scrolls that differ in style from the others, because they are black with white lines, with more stark contrast and little of the fluid drawing seen in the rubbings. But if you take a closer look you will see these are actually carved wood blocks that have been coated with black ink, leaving the white lines where they have been cut into.
A former student at Pacific Lutheran University, Wilder now lives and works in Seattle. She is represented by the Patricia Cameron Gallery in Pioneer Square. It is a treat to see her work back home in Tacoma. Shows through Sept. 10, 9th and Commerce, downtown, Tuesday through Saturday noon to 5 p.m., Thursday noon through 8 p.m.
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