Darby Milbrath‘s drawings are in one sense classically impressionistic. Things like perspective and anatomical accuracy are subordinate to the communication of mood and emotion. However, while early Impressionism and figurative abstraction tend towards an expression of an inherent quality of the subject matter, perhaps feelings of the sublime, or of certain hidden complexities, Darby’s revelations are personal. Darby employs the freedom of Impressionism to reveal, however cryptically, things about herself that might otherwise be invisible. There is something disturbing about this approach, since it commits itself to a scrutiny of more than just technique or style. What’s disturbing is that this kind of confessional approach asks the viewer, if somewhat indirectly, to consider their own hidden perversions. The “child-like” quality of Darby’s work adds to its unsettling quality by reminding us that the darker parts of ourselves are deeply rooted, fixed in the interstices of memory and dreams.
Felt Drawings by Darby Milbrath
PUBLISHED IN ISSUE 13
Darby Milbrath‘s drawings are in one sense classically impressionistic. Things like perspective and anatomical accuracy are subordinate to the communication of mood and emotion. However, while early Impressionism and figurative abstraction tend towards an expression of an inherent quality of the subject matter, perhaps feelings of the sublime, or of certain hidden complexities, Darby’s revelations are personal. Darby employs the freedom of Impressionism to reveal, however cryptically, things about herself that might otherwise be invisible. There is something disturbing about this approach, since it commits itself to a scrutiny of more than just technique or style. What’s disturbing is that this kind of confessional approach asks the viewer, if somewhat indirectly, to consider their own hidden perversions. The “child-like” quality of Darby’s work adds to its unsettling quality by reminding us that the darker parts of ourselves are deeply rooted, fixed in the interstices of memory and dreams.