Cécile Defforey, Works on Paper: “Rivages et Visages de Long Island”

Cécile Defforey, French artist, resides in Brussels, Belgium and Brookhaven, NY overlooking Fire Island. While Brussels is the traditional home of René Magritte and Marcel Broodthaers, Brookhaven quietly houses seasoned artists and art professionals who similarly lend to Defforey's approach. Both homes subtly influence Defforey's work. Collage techniques - such as leaves to represent the antlers of a deer - as well as cryptic text inscribed over drawings, casually call on the Belgian surrealists. Her flowing, oblique compositions, meanwhile, recall American contemporaries such as Florine Stettheimer and Bill Traylor. Defforey's works are remarkable for their breadth of material: paint, gold leaf, crayon and watercolor used interchangeably, signaling fluidity. Marks are made instinctively and expressively, while the edges of the paper are rarely reached. The works on paper in this exhibition are a joyful meander through the crossroads of imagination and experience. While a surrealist approach is clearly present, it is the ease of Cécile Defforey's strokes and the fluid natural demeanor of her subjects, which lends to the belief that she is also quite simply drawing from life around her. The result is a form of myth-making, where the quotidian and the mystical meet. Exhibit runs from August 12 - September 10. Pamela Lerner Antiques, 145 South Country Road, Bellport, NY 11713. Hours 11:00am-5:30pm. Closed Tuesdays. 631-776-2183. pamelalernerantiques@msn.com.