George Ray McCormick Sr. inscribes his bas-relief woodcarvings with timeless appeal. In the intimate exhibition currently at the Museum of Wisconsin Art, "One from Wisconsin: George Ray McCormick Sr.," the artist's 15 pieces embody elements of painting and sculpture. His saturated acrylic and watercolor hues suffuse the artwork, adding depth to the narrative and its inherent meaning.
Upon closer inspection the viewer senses that every mark in the basswood attempts to burn the demons from McCormick's past life, aptly described in his 1999 image Climbing Out of Hell, "from alcohol, bad health, loss of income, from drugs, and prostitution." Perhaps the pierced openings in his sculptural paintings represent windows of escape from the blazing flames McCormick depicts in several pieces to the serenely finished surfaces of the reverse sides. Referencing the aesthetic framework of folk art, illuminated illustration and a primitive form of altar panels (detailed oil pictures applied on wood that express religious themes), McCormick evokes pain and wounded humanity through figures that display intense facial expressions.
But the new man, the artist, also visualizes healing. This is where one wishes more of McCormick's new work could be exhibited. The hope that McCormick encountered when he directed his endeavors toward creation instead of destruction is witnessed in a series of carvings that depict the four apocalyptic horsemen inscribed with scriptural verses from Revelation, Chapter Six. To revisit McCormick's artwork, even from 1999, is to contemplate a life rescued and then reconstructed, a message available to all who perceive its wisdom.
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Only one recent piece appears in the exhibit, My Bug in a Grey Case Would Like to Study My Bug, a study of the artist's migration into welding. When McCormick miraculously fashions rusted nails, odd metal bits and mottled sheets of steel into artwork, he's signaling not only the security of steady employment at a foundry, but the empowering force of reclaiming discarded and destroyed objects, a metamorphosis similar to his own journey.
McCormick attends an artist's reception from 1 to 4 p.m. on July 12, and the exhibit continues until July 31.
