Paula Rothenberg Harwood harmonizes these polarities of interest and vision both in her work and in herself. Working with diverse media she creates works which speak to the viewer in uncommon and compelling voices.

Born in Syracuse, New York in 1954, Paula experienced even as a child the desire to express herself through art. In the late 1960s she studied at Penland School of Crafts in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, learning metalsmithing with Barry Merritt and glass blowing with Mark Peiser. She attended a graduate metalsmithing program with Mike Gerry at Syracuse University. Her talents at jewelry and cloisonné enamel work earned the attention of galleries in New York, where she was represented in the 1970s by Laura Kruger on Madison Avenue and Aaron Farber on Fifth Avenue.

In a search for a larger platform and scale, Paula's artistic focus has shifted and evolved. Her interests in the last several years build upon her talents in metalsmithing and cloisonné, employing materials, methods and motifs, while investing them with a new vision. These works on wood composite, with acrylic paints, foils, paper and found objects embody the dynamics of contrast.

Much of Paula's work reflects her interest in design and in the intellectual. Here she juxtaposes lines, shapes and colors in dramatic balance. Guided by a sensitivity to formal concerns, she creates sophisticated abstractions which combine a clarity of structure with a textured richness of material. At the same time, Paula maintains a strong emotional connection with her pieces. This more subjective quality of her work is seductive in its subtlety. A line of text here, a magazine clipping there, the more figurative content, all suggests a depth of meaning beyond the purely formal. Always deeply personal, her work expresses private thoughts and feelings, both about herself and about others. Numbers and shapes have a clear connection and significance for Paula, making the works profoundly intimate and solely hers.

The surface quality of the paintings, with their mixed media abstractions, dynamic texture and transparency, exists in a delicate harmony with the mystery and intensity of a more subjective dimension. Paula R. Harwood seeks this balance in her work as well as in herself. As are her paintings, the artist is multidimensional. She is at once objective and introspective, straight forward and enigmatic.

(written by) Monica Anke Koenig        Writer/Art Critic