Transformations
Diversions Fine Arts
2026
“Amy Thornberry builds layered compositions based on collaged images overlaid by paint. Her gestural brushstrokes obscure the images, like the levels of earth and detritus that cover archaeological ruins. Viewers must visually "dig" through the upper levels to find the historic remains below. The Dissolution of Fragility is based on Sir John Everett Millais' 1851-52 painting Ophelia (the tragic Shakespearean heroine). The reclining figure seems to appear then disappear, ghostlike, under cloudy white veils. Thornberry's composition succeeds if simply appreciated for its formal pleasures (color, texture, etc.), and the female figure gives it a certain "magical" depth. A more readily perceptible image is the translucent crouching woman, whose head is silhouetted against two poppy-red "clouds." The rewards of Thornberry's oeuvre are found in the visual investigation of her veils of color and form. The painted collages are never just what they initially appear to be; there are always rich levels of meaning, rich varieties of signifying artistic clues.”
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