Merle Poulton paints with the same drama and detail Homer used to write his epic poems. Poulton introduced her latest exhibition, The Iliad: A Visual Translation, to Guilford at a reception in the gallery of Hege library Jan. 12.
The 24-painting exhibit – one painting for each book in the Iliad – wraps around all four walls of the gallery. By starting at the first painting and walking around the room, a visitor can watch the story unfold through Poulton’s use of symbols, imagery, and words.
Yes, words. She handwrote each chapter into every painting – over 15,000 words. They are painted in the shape of the objects or people they describe. Up close you can make out names, phrases, and even whole sentences.
“Words are visual,” Poulton explained. “It’s about the process (of translating symbols into image).” She added that a major theme of the show is language’s power to transcend time and proximity, allowing storytellers to relate events so that an audience can picture the action taking place in their own minds.
The connection between words and images is brought to the forefront in paintings such as Book 5, which shows a battle unfolding within the pages of a book. Other paintings are less literal in their use of language; the words are shifted into the background to form shapes or landscapes.
Poulton uses layers of paint to create a dark, antiquated beauty. Many of the paintings in the Iliad look as if they have been preserved for thousands of years.
The work is fairly abstract; actions, characters and events are only hinted at so that the visitor must make the connections between what is shown and what is intended.
“I am excited to introduce Poulton’s paintings to our students and viewers in this region,” said David Newton, Assistant Professor of Art. “I find her paintings to be both beautifully realized and wonderfully compulsive.”
Newton, a longtime friend and neighbor of Poulton, helped arrange the exhibition. “Merle is like my home-girl, you know?” he said.
He described Poulton’s exhibition as a major step for the artist. “It’s got her style, but it’s a whole different theme-although she has always been a big reader.”
At the reception, Poulton charmed visitors with her enthusiasm. First-year Amanda Szabo, an art student, came to the reception early to talk to her.
“She gave me advice,” Szabo said. “She told me to spend a lot of time by myself to focus on personal growth.”
Poulton, whose previous work has been used to illustrate a translation of Virgil’s Aeneid, described the effect of working on a project on the scale of A Visual Translation.
“I practiced the painting aspect by painting open books over and over. I also re-read the Iliad several times,” she said.
Poulton started the project in May of 2001. Four months in, she felt the themes of the project needed to be rethought.
“Many significant events unfolded before us (during the creation of the project), often mirroring the Greek epic, and validating the notion that history is in fact cyclical and that the Iliad is still a contemporary piece of work,” Poulton writes in an explanation of the project.
The Iliad: A Visual Translation will be on display in the Hege library gallery through Feb. 27. The Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.