Sand T Kalloch's Meditative Energies of Motion
“I believe that there are many souls of thought that need incarnation, and my responsibility as an artist is to construct the appropriate bodies for them.”
Here is such a “body” painted by the artist Sand T Kalloch, from her series “Proliferating” :
Sand T Kalloch, Proliferating #3345, 36"h x 36"w x 2.25"d, Mixed media on wood panel
In it I see cells dividing and replicating; a topographical map of Mars; hot chili oil separating from water. And you? Do you see science making progress? Dreams of space travel? Recipes under a microscope? Or do you see color next to color, blobs on blue, circles and lines? Is this personal encounter with color and abstraction the experience of souls of thought being incarnated? That idea alone requires a “body,” a place to land. So you see how the journey begins when looking at the work of this extraordinary artist.
I first encountered Kalloch’s work at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts’ annual art sale this year. From amongst hundreds of colorful paintings, photographs and collages hung in the gallery, her black and white drawing A Mile Long called out to me more than any other.
I was drawn to the sense of freedom in her mad scribbles and the energy radiating beyond the rectangular canvas. I saw atoms spinning around a hidden nucleus; a twister; the path of leaves caught in the wind; the mapping of the flight of a swarm of bees. I returned to it again and again until finally, I bought it.
Sand T Kalloch, A Mile Long #1693, 40" x 32"w x 1/8"d, drawing on archival art-board
Later, when I met the artist, she explained that she’d made the Mile Long series in response to an assignment by a favorite drawing teacher. But at the time all I knew was that I wanted to lose myself in what she calls the “meditative energies of motion,” travel the mile with her in all its coursing, repetitive momentum, and journey to the destination - internal or external - to which she was headed.
Reminiscent of late works by Cy Twombly and Enso paintings by Takashi Murakami, A Mile Long is energetically gestural. Looking at it you feel Kalloch’s movements, her muscular decision making, the stretch of her drawing arm and the pressure of the white wax pencil on black paper. At the same time the work is a moving meditation, its seemingly endless, repetitive action requiring the artist’s sustained focus.
Cy Twombly, “Untitled (Bacchus, Psilax, Mainomenos),” 2005, Panel 7; acrylic on canvas
She admits to closing her eyes sometimes when she’s drawing, focusing so hard she can’t even listen to music. There’s so much freedom but also restraint. Only black and white. Only line and space. Only wax pencil on paper.
Takashi Murakami, “Facing the Pitch Black Void,” 2018, silkscreen
These qualities are characteristic of the whole scope of Kalloch’s oevre - from black and white works on paper to colorful, monochromatic paintings and mixed media pieces. Confining herself to a minimal toolbox of elemental marks and resisting anything figurative, she creates powerful opportunities for connection between viewer and artwork and opens space for endless interpretation.
Like A Mile Long, her other series of works on paper are also rendered in black and white. “I have always had an affinity to the strength contained in classic black and white. There is a certain calmness when the pair meet. I am drawn to the clear distinction between the two,” she explains. “While looking at the black, I have a sensation of being pulled into a mysterious void, while instantaneously questioning my own existence. To me, white is eternity, peace and joy while black is concealment, rebirth and transformation.”
Look closely at the detail in the below drawings: the painstaking precision, the searching study of mark and erasure, absence and presence, positive and negative. You’ll not just see but feel those meditative energies of motion.
Kalloch has stated that the intention of her non-objective work is to “create a simple visual experience utilizing the basic elements of dot, line, color, surface and light.” In this regard her work follows in the tradition of other abstract artists: think of Agnes Martin’s lines, Yayoi Kusama’s dots and Donald Judd’s smooth, hard surfaces.
Her idea of a “simple visual experience” takes many forms. Kalloch is a master craftswoman who swears by a “practice makes perfect” work ethic and who embraces moments of surprise and “mistakes” as opportunities for new expression. “I try not to make mistakes,” she says, “but when I do it’s an opportunity to ‘meet the mistake’.”
Perhaps the greatest example of an accident initiating a new practice is her discovery of resin’s inherent variety. Early in her practice, when experimenting with different materials in which to cover or encase her paintings, she tested resin. When she poured it over her painted canvas it dripped over the side and onto the back - not her intended result. But looking closely, she discovered the drips and bubbles the dribbling resin had made were very beautiful. This “mistake” led to a whole body of work, perhaps her most sought after.
Sand T Kalloch, Copper Rock Falls, NY, 36"h x 36"w x 2.25"d, Mixed media on wood panel
Kalloch’s resin series include “Reflections” “Lines and Droplets” and “Time, Space Energy” - intense, usually monochromatic canvases covered in hard, smooth resin that are almost sculptural in their capacity to take up space off the wall. She painstakingly releases drop after drop of resin on a painted surface (she uses wood and acrylic) to create her bubble effect, mimicking the precise yet imperfect patterns of dew on a blade of grass or bubbles of carbonation on a glass of Diet Coke. “Repetition, as a concept, is a means to reach my visual goals,” the artist explains.
Like the contrasting lines and points, hardness and softness and movement and stillness, bold colors evoke powerful reactions in Kalloch’s work. She says she uses paint material “in a very pronounced way that allows me no other choices but to focus on the color itself… The colors communicate with me on a very personal level, as they are associated with different things and feelings. Sometimes, [color] evokes particular memories and specified surroundings. I probe into these associations and insinuations when I’m initiating a new work series.”
Born and raised in Malacca, Malaysia, Kalloch says her interest in art began when she was old enough to hold a pencil. “If I wasn’t outside running through the neighborhood playing with my friends I would be in my room drawing. All I can tell you is that I simply began drawing pictures instinctually. I didn’t have a choice.” She came to the United States for school and attended Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (where Cy Twombly also studied). She lives and works in Malden and has been active in the arts scene in the community. Her work shows and sells all over the world and she is widely sought after for institutional commissions.
The artist in her Malden studio with examples from the “Lines and Droplets” series. Photo, Robin Hauck
For the massive Marina One mixed use development in Singapore for example, she created Thousand Springs, a curved wall installation of 80 resin coated panels in an ombre range of nature inspired colors over two walls. Kalloch described the experience of working with the architect and owner, who had different ideas about color, as exciting. She enjoys commissions like this she says, the collaborative nature of commissions allows her to push her practice into new and unexplored terrain, while staying within her distinct design vocabulary.
Sand T Kalloch, Mesa, Kingsey + Reggae Falls, 45.75"h x 45.75"w x 3.25"d each panel, Mixed media on wood panel.
Whether her black and white works on paper or colorful paintings and mixed media pieces, Kalloch’s work invites personal introspection, reflection and meaning making. She loves that every person who encounters one of her - blue paintings let’s say - will have a unique idea about blue. One person may love blue and see in the piece a beautiful sky or a calm ocean. Another may see dangerous waters or paint on walls in a room better forgotten.
While what is ultimately revealed, or incarnated, in Kalloch’s work is unique to each viewer, our desire to find personal meaning in enigmatic, geometric markings and provocative color is as universal as nature, as familiar as surface, points and lines.
To learn more visit www.sandtworks.com
