Pentimento by Diana Detamore Opens Feb. 11

From February 11 through March 1, the exhibition Pentimento by Diana Detamore will be on view at Mary Baldwin’s Hunt Gallery.

Detamore is an adjunct professor in the Visual Arts Program at John Tyler Community College in Chester. She holds a BFA in painting and an MFA in sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Her work is represented in numerous corporate and private collections, including Capitol One, VCU Medical Center, Children’s Hospital in Richmond, and the University of Virginia Law School in Charlottesville.

The artist writes the following about her work in this exhibition:

The intrigue of art-making for me lies in the process: drawing, erasing and redrawing, layering of paint, changes in direction, all of which allow the artwork to reveal itself. The layers are evidence of change that trace the artist’s creative process and embed richness in the work.

Pentimento is an alteration in a work of art revealing traces of previous work, showing how the artist changed his or her mind about the composition during the process of painting. In the modern sense, the term is used to describe the appearances of sides of buildings with painted advertising, often painted over and revealing older layers as the paint wears away.

My imagination was captured by the modern definition of pentimento, in the wearing away of layers to reveal what lies beneath. Wearing away alludes to a passage of time, as in erosion or decay, or possibly a revealing of history or truths, as evidenced by what lies beneath the layers.

Nature continues to be a prevailing theme and source of inspiration. Its themes of cyclical rhythms, death, decay, and rebirth, resonate in the work, as does the mystery of nature’s ability to adapt and reinvent.

A reception will be held for the artist from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on February 11 in Hunt Gallery. The public is invited to attend.

Hunt Gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of contemporary work in all media by regionally and nationally recognized artists.  The gallery is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday during the academic year. Hunt Gallery’s schedule for the 2018–19 academic year can be found online.