Will-o'-the-Wisp

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Will-o’-the-wisp is an oil painting on canvas by Jane Swavely, exhibited at the Mandeville Gallery in 2020 and gifted to the Permanent Collection by the artist. To learn more about the exhibition, please visit the Mandeville Gallery website.

Jane Swavely currently splits her time living and working between New York City and her home in the Hudson Valley, focusing primarily on creating gestural, abstract paintings that feel referential to landscapes.1 Swavely admits that she creates a “balance between looking at nature and the subconscious experience of being in nature” in her works, but also encourages the viewer to bring their own interpretation to the paintings.2

As part of stepping back from directing the narrative of her works, Swavely typically uses neutral titles to keep viewers from inferring a certain meaning from her paintings.3

Even knowing this, I cannot resist looking deeper into the title of Will-o’-the-wisp; an expression that refers to the flame-like phosphorescence caused by the gaseous decay of plants in marshy areas. Further, in lore, it was said that foolish travelers would follow this light into the marsh and never return, giving the idiom a darker meaning of an unattainable or foolish goal.4

Looking at this work, I am drawn into the dark left panel by the light green wispy strokes that I interpret as rising smoke or flames licking at the air. Even though Swavely admits that she is surprised when she learns that viewers see figures in her paintings, I almost read hands grasping at and protecting the green light.

To me this guarded feeling contributes to my symbolic interpretation of the title; the light is so alluring and physically draws you into the work and yet, it is simultaneously withheld, embodying the elusive desire of a will-o’-the-wisp.

Even without consideration of the title, Swavely’s luminous works are evocative, connecting viewers with deeply felt emotions and a more contemplative state of mind. 

How do you interpret Will-o’-the-wisp? Is your interpretation guided by the title of the work or are you more inspired by luminosity, color, and brushwork?

My interpretation of the painting is a marriage of both, which is a freedom Swavely permits her viewers. In her own words, “I hope that my work unfolds for the viewer and that there are new aspects for them to discover...whatever they see or whatever the paintings evoke is fine with me.”5

 - Mallory Schultz, Art Collections & Exhibitions Fellow 2019 - 2020

[1] Mandeville Gallery, Jane Swavely, (Schenectady, NY: Jane Swavely Exhibition Brochure, 2020).
[2] Noelani Kirschner, “Portrait of the Artist: Jane Swavely,” The American Scholar, November 19, 2018, https://theamericanscholar.org/.
[3] Sharon Butler, “Interview with Jane Swavely: Toxic Glow,” Two Coats of Paint, December 1, 2018, https://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/2018/12/interview-jane-swavely-r.html.
[4] “Will-o’-the-wisp,” Merriam Webster, June 1, 2020 accessed, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/will-o%27-the-wisp.
[5] Noelani Kirschner, “Portrait of the Artist: Jane Swavely,” The American Scholar, November 19, 2018, https://theamericanscholar.org/.

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