Betty Goodwin Episode #7: Passage of Time #7

Betty Goodwin's depictions of the human body, suffering, and the passage of time resonated with me when I discovered her at the Manitoba Gallery. These haunting images spoke to me in ways I wasn't familiar with. I was incredibly young and foolish at the time. I was on an adventure crossing our country to the West Coast.

When I saw Goodwin's mysterious works, she drew me in with those lines, that density, that complexity pulled me in, and hasn't let me go ever since. Even to this day, when I see her artwork on the walls of Toronto's Union Station, I am reminded of her encapsulating nature. She is a genius of dark metaphors and decisive yet fluid ambiguity.

Join me as we go deep into her world as a creative. What inspiration brought her to this precipice? How did printmaking become her focus? How did she learn to decipher her intensity to create these masterpieces? Was she influenced by anyone in particular? Or was her style unique and original? What drove her to become an artist in the first place?   

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Creatively Thinking Podcast. Join Carolyn Botello as she uncovers the inspirations behind some incredibly creative minds that are orbiting our local communities.

SPEAKER_03 0:21

Hi, everyone, welcome back to the Creatively Thinking Podcast with Carolyn B. And today I am doing a sort of study on Betty Goodwin. And that's my cat deciding to be a part of things. Right, Milo? Yep. It's nearly his dinner time. Anyway. I just thought I would, yeah, share this with everybody. My sort of fascination.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Or what's a better word for it? Because I've already used that. My just my word finding not good right now. My My interest? No, that's not a number that's not a very good word. My intensity? No, that's not it. Anyway. My Oh, I can't think of anything. I gotta think of something for later, but um captivating.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

You know what it is? That's what it is. I'm captivated. That's it. I'm captivated.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

So this is my essay on Betty Goodwin. And I found this genius when I walked into an exhibition on my way across our glorious country, Canada. I was in a bright orange 1972 Volkswagen camper van that I bought with all the money I had left from my bakery job back home. I was a teenager, bright-eyed and blind to bad actors, but very enthusiastic about discovering what the world was all about. Betty Goodwin drew me in with her raw energy of emotional severity. The heavy shadows and dramatic line work in her drawings are intense. Haunting almost, bringing Katherine Kolowitz to mind from the German Expressionists. Artist here. I'm gonna have to say that again. Haunting almost, bringing Kath Kolowitz to mind from the German expressionist art movement. I remember the gallery in Manitoba, large and enveloping, with huge walls to persuade you when you enter. That was a magical time back then. I was 16, ready to take on the world, or at least my little corner of it. Walking in the gallery, I was looking back at how happy I was that we had finally made let me say that again. I was I was looking back at how happy I was that we had finally made it through Ontario after 15 hours of driving from the eastern side to the south to see some friends in Niagara, in Niagara, and then north to leave it. Heading west to make it to Vancouver, BC, we stopped in many places on the way, including many stunning waterfalls, caves, galleries, and trails. Once I learned of this artist, Betty Goodwin, I was hooked on her urgency and complex and dark energy. This was a time in my life I was absorbing many influences, oblivious to some, but humbled by others, especially ones who understood inner suffering that spoke volumes to me. I didn't see this then, as I was determined to be single-minded in obtaining my adventure. Looking back, I see what Betty's intricacies and obscure artworks offered to the observer. She was inviting the onlooker in to see her world, how it was dark, mysterious, and dangerously haunting. Somewhere you could conjure your own complexities into new dimensions and avenues of other worlds that reflected what she had seen. A depth I had never seen before, pulling me in. Her artwork was transfixing, almost hypnotic. Now visible in Toronto's Union Station, it is lovely seeing these images nearly daily when traveling across the city. I see new aspects and understand them differently every time I engage with them. This shows us the power art can have over our psyche, the transporting ability, the transporting ability that images on our retinas play. That storytelling is impactful in ways we may not realize. Especially when these stories touch us in ways we are not quite sure of, triggering us for whatever reason. This French Canadian artist sure stirred something in me that I wasn't sure what it was when I saw it. It was raw, magical, and mysterious. A longing, a sense of remorse, discovery of the body and its passage through time are themes her work focuses on. Born to immigrant parents from Romania, they had first settled in the United States where her father Abraham Worish was a tailor. They struggled financially, and this is where Abraham saw it fit, saw it fit for them to move to Montreal, Canada, where he could take up tailoring and find reasonable living accommodations. This is where Betty was born, Montreal. She grew up loving to draw and paint. After high school, she studied design at Valentine's Commercial School of Art, then launched herself as a printmaker in the 1940s. In the 1960s, she began incorporating fabric and found objects into her work. This gained her national attention and eventually widespread interest, and eventually widespread international recognition. Goodwin was even chosen to represent Canada at many international artistic events, such as the BLs in the 1970s and the 1980s, in Tokyo, Sao Paulo, and Venice, to name a few. Goodwin's work encompasses the human form, the passage of time, and some of the darkest thresholds of the human condition. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and acknowledgments, including being made an officer of the Order of Canada, a cornerstone of the Canadian honor system that is presented by the Governor General, recognizing dedication to the community, service to the nation, an outstanding achievement. Sometimes this happens in the art world where artists can become so completely neck deep in their practice that the outside world is a blur. Maybe this is just my perspective, but I have seen this even in myself when I have been hell-bent on achieving a specific goal of abstraction with nothing getting in my way. I feel this is how Betty Goodwin's practice was for her throughout her life. Creativity comes at a cost. It is an energy that pulses through us, all of us, and those who choose to accept its challenges shine brighter. I like to think of it as one of those old coins you come across in your wallet by chance, incredibly shiny, with deep incisions, strange markings, and an unusual design from another country you have never seen before. You find yourself wanting to keep these unique pieces as they are wonderful in their rustic absurdity and peculiar design. Betty Goodwin's commitment to discovering all of the transitions of the human form helped us understand our own stories more poetically. Her devotion to abstracting and blending mysterious and deeply personal experiences into a simplified language smoothed out our own rough edges, blending and punctuating our narratives to be clearer and more concise as a reflection of contemplation. Goodwin's creative practice became a national unearthing of intimate innovation. Goodwin's creative practice became a national unearthing of intimate innovation. A space, a place for contemporary consideration. Torontonians will have a glimpse into Goodwin's inner world on their daily commute. A collage of her prominent pieces at Union Station allows commuters to see the depth of the human form in all of its glory. Displayed in solid glass panels and subtle dark hues, we can imagine Goodwin's printmaking studio and how she labored over these tremendous works. As we practice our daily routines, we can return to our initial interactions with Goodwin's works and be reminded of their brilliance, their wealth and complexity, and their spiritual awareness. Her compositions transcended visual discourse in a way that translates into a visual collective of the melancholy of the times we live in, a shadowy figure under the radar of the public's piercing eye. Goodwin was a noticeable figure in the Montreal art scene, as well as internationally. However, her quiet talent and cleverness were not as prevalent in the mainstream as one would expect. Thankfully, now that her work is being displayed at Toronto's Union Station, we will let me say that again. Thankfully, now that her work is being displayed at Toronto's Union Station, will allow us into her inner world of the fragility of life and our uncertain world. And thank you for listening all the way to the end. Please remember to like, share, and comment on this and any other podcast you enjoy on the Creatively Thinking Podcast with Carolyn B. See you next time.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Join me next time as I go down another rabbit hole with another creative professional on their insights, their inspirations, and their ingenuity.