Hall 6 (center) [26-35]

Bradford’s works in the lower hall’s central room offer a stark contrast to the other works in American Odyssey. The sober tones of these paintings bring a sense of gravity, and deeper introspection, implying also negative feelings as well as everyday situations as a strong influence.
In Bed Sitter (2023) [26], a woman sits alone on her bed at night. Is she plagued by insomnia? Biographical notes by Bradford’s twins, Arthur and Laura, describe the artist’s long personal search for her position within the field of painting as well as being a woman and mother as an arduous and precarious path.
The unconscious seems to play a pivotal role in this hall. As Sigmund Freud explained in his essay of the same name (1919), the uncanny is not foreign or unknown, but rather something familiar, which having been repressed, returns in a way causing discomfort and fear. According to Freud, the uncanny is associated with the return of repressed childhood fears and fantasies, able to resurface as irritations and unsettling feelings. Furthermore, according to Freud, the uncanny is often associated with the merging of boundaries and fantasies, which can also have a disturbing effect on individuals.
Nevertheless, these works show an important aspect of the artist’s personal American Odyssey, which led her from Maine to New York, from pure abstraction to a skillful interweaving of abstract and figurative [36 – 38]. In the room to the right of the hall, Holding Spheres of Light (2023) [31] shows colorful, hopeful bodies in the water at night, offering a light to brighten up the darkness of the moment.
 

[26]
Bed Sitter, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
22,9 x 30,5 cm
Courtesy Katherine Bradford, New York
 

[27]
Tidal Pool Swimmers, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
22,9 x 30,5 cm
Courtesy Katherine Bradford, New York
 

[28]
Diver Dark Waves, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
25,4 x 20,3 cm
Courtesy Katherine Bradford, New York
 

[29]
Summer Diver, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
30,5 x 22,9 cm
Courtesy Katherine Bradford, New York
 

[30]
Blue Beach Swimmers, 2023
Acryl auf Leinwand / Acrylic on canvas
40,6 x 50,8 cm
Courtesy Katherine Bradford, New York
 

[31]
Holding Spheres of Light, 2023
Acryl auf Leinwand / Acrylic on canvas
50,8 x 40,6 cm
Courtesy Katherine Bradford, New York
 

[32]
Pink Beach Shoes, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
35,5 x 27,9 cm
Courtesy Katherine Bradford, New York
 

[33]
Crossing the Ocean at Night, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
35,5 x 27,9 cm
Courtesy Katherine Bradford, New York
 

[34]
Ocean, Stars, 3 Swimmers, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
35,5 x 27,9 cm
Courtesy Katherine Bradford, New York
 

[35]
Alone with a Shower of Stars, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
35,5 x 27,9 cm
Courtesy Katherine Bradford, New York