Arts Soothe the Soul
by Kathleen Reckling, Deputy Director of Public Programs, ArtsWestchester
Stephanie Wolfson is a house plant portraitist. The White Plains printmaker and SUNY Purchase alumna blends the exacting skill of botanical illustration with the tropes of contemporary “millennial” and “Instagram” aesthetics. The result is detailed renderings of popular house plants, like “Stomanthe Triostar” and “Aechmea Susciata,” set against soft pastel-hued backgrounds – calming images of the flora that are associated with domestic space.
Wolfson is one of four Hudson Valley artists whose works are part of Domestic Bliss, an exhibition of paintings and artist prints installed in the waiting rooms of Memorial Sloan Kettering Westchester (MSK Westchester), and curated by ArtsWestchester. The exhibition is the eighth installation in an ongoing Arts and Healing partnership between the world-renowned cancer-care facility and the arts organization. As we all turn to the safety of our homes during the pandemic era, the views of our backyards and the simple beauty of the light through our windows offer comfort during this period of stress and uncertainty. The works included in this exhibition draw on these familiar scenes to create an atmosphere of warmth and hope.
Those at MSK Westchester know that sometimes the best prescriptions for treating patients includes more than clinical treatments. According to Nancy Diamond, Ambulatory Director at MSK Westchester: “The importance of a therapeutic approach to healing, including the arts, is an important ingredient to a patient’s experience and wellbeing.”
Diamond continues: “By displaying the incredible talents of our community’s artists, our patients appreciate both the beauty and escape from the moment provided by the contemporary artworks on display. With the additional stress and worries that COVID-19 now brings to the world, the paintings and unique prints on view in several of the waiting areas at MSK Westchester serve as a much needed escape and healing medicine of its own kind.”
Domestic Bliss is also the title of a series of paintings by Julia Whitney Barnes, selections from which are included in the exhibition. The expressive brushwork and light-flooded interior scenes are warm and inviting, suggesting the promise of long stretches of sunshine on summer days. Barnes is a multi-discipline artist whose work is inspired by architectural design and its history. She recently completed a commission for Arts Brookfield, reinterpreting the stained-glass work of Victorian-era artisan Charles Booth.
Nearby are the exuberant floral paintings of White Plains artist Eileen Stodut, who is an educator and painter with a background in theatrical set design. In her works featured in this exhibition, close-up views of petals fill canvases and straddle the artistic space between representation and pure abstraction. In the lower waiting room, Hanazono (Flower Garden), by Kiyoshi Otsuka mirrors the blooms in the nearby exterior courtyard garden. Otsuka’s gestural abstract paintings are inspired by his many years working at the New York Botanical Garden and are informed by traditional Japanese creative practices.
Domestic Bliss will be on display at MSK Westchester through early fall.
A version of this article first appeared in the June issue of ArtsNews, ArtsWestchester’s monthly publication. ArtsNews is distributed throughout Westchester County. A digital copy is also available at artsw.org/artsnews.
