Judge titled the exhibition to evoke earth and its hidden visual and physical forces. “Geo” has a duality of meaning in the exhibition title: “Geo” (Greek) references earth’s geology and geometries referring to earth’s measurement. “Geothermal” references lava flows, steam geysers and mud baths. “Thermal”calls to mind primordial molten material from below the earth’s surface. Borealis (Latin) adds a reference to the goddess of the dawn and Boreas (Greek), the god of the north wind and australis from Auster, the south wind, bringing the opposing cooler and lighter elements from the atmosphere.
Combining the energy from present and past, this exhibition includes works on paper and paintings. Judge’s well-known series on paper using the spolvero (Italian) technique with powdered pigments and stencils are injected with saturated, energetic color that shifts the energy and innovates bringing the series to new heights.
The exhibition debuts Mary Judge’s paintings on canvas. The paintings include the use of sprayed paint with stencils integrated with the spolvero technique. The paintings are a significant departure from Judge’s work on paper in both scale and material. Inspiration for the paintings include the jagged linear patterns of optical migraines, Native American rugs, Mexican and Middle Eastern patterns found in weaving, architecture, and the patterns in nature such as the Aurora Borealis
