The Artistic Evolution of Judith Lodge
Judith Lodge is an American Canadian painter and photographer whose work explores the interplay between these two mediums. Her practice involves creating abstract portraits inspired by dreams, journals, nature, and the unconscious, as well as memories, people, and specific events. Her creative journey has taken her through various locations, including Saint Paul, United States, Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Banff, Minnesota, and New York, where she has resided for over thirty years.
Her formal training includes a Bachelor of Science from Macalester College and a Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Throughout her career, she has held various academic positions, serving as an instructor at Skidmore College, the Banff School of Fine Arts, and the University of Victoria, among others. She also served as the Associate Chair of Illustration at Parsons School of Design in New York from 1993 to 2006.
Style and Thematic Exploration
Lodge’s monumental abstract works often utilize a painterly style characterized by thick layers and ropes of acrylic paint, creating a three-dimensional topography reminiscent of veins or sinews. In exhibitions such as Life Jackets and Walls of Eden, she has utilized metallic gold to symbolize sacredness and incorruptibility. Her work frequently employs a strong sense of grid organization and explores themes such as:
Her photographic work includes the series Trees Hit by Lightening and Other Fires, which features damaged arbutus trees. Her paintings and photographs seek to address primal subjects found in myth and the subconscious.
