"My Vocation" is a new body of paintings on canvas and mylar by Angela Grossmann.

The collaged surfaces of these paintings are made up of postcards and letters imbedded in a pool of paint. The letters spanning the last 150 years mark not only historic events which have ruptured history, but the ties and consequences of these ruptures: the old world, the new world, their collisions and the collapses of high and low culture.

On a formal level these collages form a backdrop and structure which is randomly blotted out and covered up during the process of (the) painting. Over the top of these fetid surfaces, the images are simple. Usually there is one figure (female) often in water, sitting or swimming. "Swimming" in these pieces is used to describe pleasurable or sensual effort - a soothing struggle.

The paintings on mylar have the same subject but contain no collage. These surfaces are rubbed out and erased over and over, leaving ghostly echoes from another time and place.

The figures (women) offer a contrast to these worn surfaces. They are modern women, self-assured and physically strong. Their nakedness is not displayed for the pleasure of others eyes, but as a way of expressing their comfort with themselves. There is no coyness. No awkwardness. No embarrassment. They are fully female, not fragile, comfortable with their place in the painting's and their place in history. The title of this exhibition, "My Vocation" was inspired by a short story written by Natalia Ginzburg about her lifelong passion for writing.

Angela Grossmann
March 1999