Part of a triptych WS-100
Demonstrably, one of Oglesbee���s
masterworks, WS-06 1995,
depicts a woman, head
emerging, upside down, from the
bottom of the image, her left hand
extended towards us behind her
head, her right hand poised to
emerge just below a ripple in the
water���s surface. Three stones,
randomly placed, remind us of
ideal groupings in Japanese
gardens or the Trinity. Could the
hand be stretching out to touch
the tripartite God? The subject���s
eyes, clear and compelling, are
rolled back towards her forehead,
viewing us, calmly, ethereally; her
lips appear parted. As in so many
of these images, twigs, branches
and leaves appear like nature���s
lace at river���s edge. The model���s
apparently long hair and her body
extending out, floating just below
the water recalls classic PreRaphaelite imagery: John Everett
Millais��� famous Ophelia, now in
the Tate, depicting Shakespeare���s
character from Hamlet singing
just before she drowns, her, at
first air-borne clothes having
become waterlogged.
HYLAND
