September 28, 2000
SOUTHERN COMFORT
Artist Cynthia Fraula-Hahn's New Work Sings a Song of the South
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September 28, 2000 SOUTHERN COMFORT Artist Cynthia Fraula-Hahn's New Work Sings a Song of the South |
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By CYNTHIA CATHER BURTON The Winchester Star |
No one is more surprised than Cynthia Fraula-Hahn that she is living in the same Frederick County house in which she grew up. "I'm the last person from my high school class who ever thought they'd move back home," the accomplished artist said with a laugh as she sat on a sofa in her light-filled living room, smudges of dried paint on her fingers. Her return to Virginia 11 years ago be cause of her parents' ill health was bittersweet. She lamented leaving the Caribbean and other seaside ports that had been her home since graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1981 with a master's degree in painting, but she knew time with her parents was fleeting. Once back in the rolling farmland of the northern Shenandoah Valley, she continued to cover her canvases with tropical images - lush flora and fauna, looming' volcanoes, and fish in deep, watery, blueness. Then something strange happened. After the deaths of her parents, Fraula-Hahn found inspiration in a place where it seemed them was none - her hometown. "These things never even entered my mind as possible subject matter," she said incredulously as she sifted through old family photographs, heirlooms, and news clippings - all neatly boxed and stored by generations of her relatives. Fiercely contemporary, Fraula-Hahn once scoffed at the old-fashioned. Now she sees things differently. "Going through all this stuff made me realize how deep my roots an, she said simply. It's these artifacts, letters, and photographs that are the inspiration for Fraula-Hahn's upcoming multi-media, one- woman show, "Soul of the South New Directions/Familiar Ground" at Shenandoah University's Bowman Building in downtown Winchester. "It's monumental," said Fraula-Hahn, who was approached by university president James A. Davis about launching an art space in the grandiose building, a former bank. "It's definitely my most important show. It feels so right. I'm a Southern woman painter, and this is what my work is supposed to be about." Sponsored by the university, the show runs from Nov. 3-30. "We're very pleased to host Cynthia Fraula-Hahn and her new work," Davis said. "The university will be doing occasional art shows and working to develop a visual arts program m the near future as part of our overall offering." The exhibition will feature installations and assembled pieces complemented by light and sound. In the tradition of Southern storytelling, the eccentric cast of characters, in the nearly two dozen paintings will include politicians and gamblers, bankers and embezzlers, matriarchs and martyrs - all awash in the colors of the Caribbean. It is Fraula-Hahn's hope that these works will give people a fresh glimpse into life in the valley, from the early 20th century to the present. "I can't believe I'm doing these paintings," Fraula-Hahn said with a wide smile as she stood in her basement studio. "But I'm really fueled by these images. It's like I'm honoring all these spirits, all these memories. Personal, complex, and quirky, many of the paintings are inspired by photographs the artist found tucked away in boxes In one assembled piece her grandmother and great aunt - then young women - build a snowman m the yard in their long skirts, smiling at the absurdity of it all; on another canvas the community's first Apple Blossom Festival queen holds court in a peaceful, peculiar scene pulsing with color. "I hope people feel a sense of joy from being in a space with the energy of this work, which is very joyous," Fraula-Hahn said. "Remembering is what helps keep the past alive." Added university public relations director Cathy Loranger, "If you're familiar with the northern Shenandoah Valley, you will recognize her characters. I think people will be surprised and delighted by what they see. Her paintings really depict the culture of Winchester and the valley." The show's opening is 7-9 p.m. Nov. 3 and runs through the end of the month. Hours are 9 am. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. For more information, call 665-5456, or visit the artist's online gallery at www.otherart.com or the University's Web site at www.su.edu |
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