Upon walking into the Williamsburg Art and Historical center gallery, one is immersed in Orin Buck’s eclectic portfolio. The exhibit is acting as a proper send off for a loved WAH member who will soon be moving to Arizona. In regards to his art-work, there is no limit to the mediums used, he successfully utilizes paint, photography, drawing, and digital media. It is apparent through Orin Buck’s art work that his forte is producing extremely organic and naturalistic work.
Paintings by Orin Buck
Buck’s love of music and art is evident in his work, especially in the series of paintings on relatively small canvases. These paintings seem to be heavily influenced by music due to the rhythmic movement each piece expresses. In fact, there is a sense of movement in every piece in this gallery which creates an active and mobile atmosphere.
My favorite aspects of this exhibit are the small paintings and the photographs taken by Buck. When observing the small paintings, I can almost match a specific sound or tone associated with each piece. For instance, one canvas is adorned with a blue circle with a smaller red circle on top and around the circle is a spiral of blue and red. When I look at this piece I correlate a continuous looped sound. However, the canvases that depict elongated lines of various layered colors offer a different type of “sound” which I think is an interesting component of Orin Buck’s paintings. The series of small paintings presents many scenarios other than music. I noticed biomorphic shapes such as parts of a plant and feminine curves that proves Buck’s appreciation for nature and organic forms.
Photography by Orin Buck
Orin Buck’s photographs are another exciting part of this show mostly because of the subject matter and how it is represented. Buck did not give up his theme of organic and natural forms. My favorite photograph is a bunch of tangled cords; he manages to take something that is not naturally occurring or even found in nature and make it emulate tangled vines or branches. An impressive aspect of his photography is his use of reflection in his “Point Symmetry” photographs. In some pieces it is obvious that the image is being digitally manipulated, however, others are so naturally and precisely reflected that it creates a new space and a different image all together. The photographs that exemplify the cityscape are a great example because they look so natural with the reflection mimicking an actual reflection in water. One nearly has to do a double take to realize “hey, maybe that isn’t what it seems.” Trying to uncover what feels off abouteach photo becomes almost a game.
I feel that there is a lot to observe and analyze in this exhibit, which makes it so powerful. It is more than just viewing a piece of Orin Bucks work; it is like an experience. I hope to see more of Orin’s work in the future and how it progresses as his interests and passions evolve.
Alessia Amato, Contributing Writer to the WAH Center Blog
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