Earlier this summer, research published in Nature Geoscience announced that some rocks at the bottom of the ocean are capable of producing oxygen.1 In fact, the discovery might have happened sooner had so many scientists not dismissed the possibility. Oxygen without photosynthesis? Without plants? Sustained trust in a pre-established order of things almost led to a missed opportunity––the realization that life, energy, and everything in the world may be more intertwined than anyone had imagined.
Enter Elly Reitman’s paintings. Written in a kind of energetic shorthand, they are not concerned with formality. Rather, in their brevity and soft marks, the work is acutely focused on message. Body, life energy, the senses, and healing come to mind upon seeing the paintings’ imagery: ears, tongues, leaves, and electrical outlets. Reitman reminds the viewer of the interconnectivity of things, of the energy that exists within and moves through every element.
Sensory exchange lies at the core of these paintings. Thinking About Power IV (2024)’s fusion of the human, plant, and electric evokes awareness, and serves as a thesis statement for the exhibition. In Untitled (2024), geometric stones float and crack alongside a listening ear, while elsewhere in Eights (2024), one almost feels the light and shadows drifting across the room. U & I (2024), emulates the feeling of cold air drying the tongue, or perhaps the taste of an unexpected flavor. In Traditional Chinese Medicine––of which Reitman is a practitioner––the tongue offers insight on a person’s well being, a mirror for overall health.
Beyond this study of constant movement, energy explores and dissolves another duality: what is outside versus within. Even when entering the space, one must step over Blood (2024), a deep red half-halo of pigment applied to the ground along the door frame (this mark is made from ground hematite, a stone associated with uniting the spiritual and physical worlds). This installation element transforms the exhibition into a more layered experience; not only is the viewer looking at paintings about these dynamics, they are also also participating in them. Reitman’s overlapping renderings of mouth and tongue over a peaceful face, Untitled (2023) elaborates on this sense of inside vs out, opening and closing at once.
Previous to energy, Reitman was primarily known for their refined sculptures. Comparing the stripped-back practice to these now playful paintings, the new work provides opportunities for ideas to evolve spontaneously and freely. Unafraid of being exploratory, this body of work is concerned with content. The acts of recharging, sensing, and going deeper sit at its core, and while the level of precision varies, it is Reitman’s openness that renders the work compelling. All in all, energy is an enchanting exercise in expansion.
[1] Sweetman, Andrew K., Alycia J. Smith, Danielle S. W. De Jonge, Tobias Hahn, Peter Schroedl, Michael Silverstein, Claire Andrade, et al. 2024. “Evidence of Dark Oxygen Production at the Abyssal Seafloor.” Nature Geoscience 17 (8): 737–39. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8.
Elly Reitman: energy is on view at Bad Water in Knoxville through September 20, 2024.
