Curves Ahead

As the title promises, Nancy Hodge’s show in the Upstairs Gallery at Natalie’s Fine Threads sports “Mostly Women” as its subjects. Women, indeed, appear in varying states of dress and realism in the paintings and mixed-media works, with a few stray musicians--of the male gender--thrown into the picture.

But the plot thickens as the artistic approach thins. Hodge’s work hovers in some halfway zone between an attraction to things and a curiosity about what is beyond the visible. She counts among her influences Matisse, Rouault and Kandinsky, and we see the connection, particularly in “A Part of Me,” an appealing assembly of forms and hues. Mostly, the image is about women.

Her nudes have a loose, flowing hand in the rendering, so that while figurative and anatomical elements are always detectable, the spirit of the pieces nudges in the direction of abstraction. The drawing aspect looks almost calligraphic at times, especially in a piece like “Lady With Cat,” with its ephemeral wisps of whiskers and eyebrows, in a spare mesh of line and color.

“Bareback Rider” initially appears to be an abstract image, until you notice the work’s title and cross-reference what we are seeing, like mentally indexing pieces of a puzzle.

The light, quick air of the work conveys a quality that could easily be compared with musical improvisation. Thus, it seems logical that Hodge also turns her artistic eye toward images of musicians with instruments, whose own sinuous curves relate to the curves of her women subjects. Hers is a show, perfect for breezy summer viewing, that walks softly but carries deeper meanings for anyone caring to linger, and notice.

DETAILS

Nancy Hodge, “Mostly Women,” through July 29 at Natalie’s Fine Threads, 596 Main St., in Ventura. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10:30-5:30 p.m.; 643-8854.

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Through a Glass Lightly: At the Buenaventura Gallery, watercolorist Paulette Beakley presents paintings in her “Voyeur” series, but she plays on the V-word in a different way than we would expect. Her form of voyeurism is less about snooping than it is an oblique perspective on the outside world, one that warps reality, but without pretension.

In effect, her art is done with mirrors. Using a photo-realist approach, she paints simple storefronts that become complexes of imagery. The street life and sidewalk life behind the buildings’ facades are reflected and distorted by windows, creating a looking-glass sensation out of mundane visions. In a couple of pieces, the voyeuristic angle shifts toward human nature, as we look at subjects looking elsewhere, with longing. In one, a man admires an antique model car, and in another, a man ogles a passing woman.

Beakley’s one straight-on piece, with no reflection to confuse the perception issue, is a modest little still-life of a vase with flowers. It’s almost startling, by association.

In a way, Beakley’s approach can be seen as a naturalistic variation on Cubism, with its meshing of multiple views and its insistence that such a view depicts the nature of reality better than the standard, singular view of a scene or subject.

Sharing the gallery space are figurines and busts by sculptor Virginia Merrill. Her pieces are skillfully done and pleasant, with a simplicity of form and intention.

DETAILS

Watercolors by Paulette Beakley and sculpture by Virginia Merrill, through July 21 at the Buenaventura Gallery, 700 E. Santa Clara St. in Ventura. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; 648-1235.