Springfield Library and Museums Association
Springfield, MA
413-263-6800
Bill Rohan: Mindscapes
Paintings, sculptures and collages made with bits of eggshell will
be on display from July 5 through August 27, 2000 at the Springfield Museum
of Fine Arts in the first public showing of the exhibition "Bill Rohan:
Mindscapes." The public is invited to view the exhibit and meet the
artist during a free reception at the museum on Thursday, July 13, from
5:30 to 7 p.m. (left: Eggyptian, 1997, eggshell, 6 1/2 x 4
1/2 inches)
Bill Rohan, from Williamsburg, Mass., uses the egg as a metaphor in his work. With acrylics, eggs of different sizes and colors, and pieces of eggshell, he playfully manipulates images, words, and ideas related to the egg.
Rohan is a retired psychologist and has painted all his
life. He has studied with the realist artist 
Robin Freedenfeld and has taken art classes at the
University of Massachusetts. The first piece he exhibited, a realistic painting
of the Miss Florence Diner, won a Merit Award in the 66th Springfield Art
League National Exhibition. Although he no longer paints hyper-realistic
cityscapes, he still considers himself a realist. His Mindscapes
evolved from questioning how much of what we think of as reality is based
on our individual perceptions and experiences, and how much is actually
real. "My kind of realism is more complete because it includes both
outer realism and inner realism - not just what your eyes are in touch
with," he said. (right: Eggsect Colleggtion, 1997, acrylic
and eggshell, 11 x 7 1/2 x 3 inches)
The
titles of his Mindscapes almost always incorporate the word "egg."
For example, there is an "Eggsect Colleggtion" of six insects,
an "Eggyptian" sphinx, and a snowy landscape during a "Nor'eggster."
When asked the age-old question "Which came first?", he explained
that sometimes he thinks of an image and the title follows, and other times
a title or egg-word will occur to him first. (left: Shell-fish,
1997, acrylic, eggshell, mirror, 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 3 inches)
One of the most remarkable works in the exhibition is his
"Aeggsopped Fable," a 2,500-word 
story written in eggshell on two large egg-shaped
boards. It tells the tale of a farmer who becomes so upset when his eggs
are stolen that he needs to visit his "pseggchieggtrist,'' Seggmund
Fried. The story is laced with 712 egg words and puns, some of which, Rohan
said, are "so bad, they're good." The piece took him nine months
to complete. (right: Lepeggdoptera, 1997, acrylic and eggshell,
9 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches)
Rohan grinds the eggshells with a mortar and pestle, and uses a variety of strainers and shakers to get whatever size bits of shell he needs for a particular work. He attaches the pieces of shell with glue.
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