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Lee Udall Bennion
Snow Queen: Portrait of Adah
Born March 17, 1956, in Merced California, Lee Bennion moved to Utah in 1974 to study art at Brigham Young University. In 1976, she married ceramicist Joseph Bennion and moved to the rural setting of Spring City in Sanpete County, Utah. Today she has three daughters and is energetically involved in both church and community activities in the family-oriented life of Spring City.
In 1983, Lee returned to Brigham Young University where she earned a Master of Fine Arts in painting. She has received numerous honors and awards from the Art Community, is a frequent participant in presentations and workshops for artists and educators, and has been the featured subject of several articles in national art publications, including Southwest Art.
Lee's commitment to family is reflected in the subject matter of many of her paintings. Her husband Joe believes the objects Lee sees with her eyes are "transferred as visual information through the conduit of her soul." Lee Bennion's distinctive style, with its pensive, elongated figures, is not so much portraiture as her own special harmony between subject, emotional atmosphere, and viewer. She says of her work,
"Although I primarily paint the figure, portraiture is not my main concern. My painting deals with form, color, and feelings foremost. Often a likeness of my model is also found in my paintings, and I enjoy this when it happens. My figures are often slightly distorted, never quite perfect, but hopefully still reflect the warmth and goodness that I feel exists within them. I am most pleased when these feelings reach the viewer, and some kind of dialogue occurs that goes beyond the recognition of the subject. "
The Art
LEE UDALL BENNION (1956- ) Spring City
Snow Queen: Portrait of Adah 1992
oil on canvas, 48" x 36" (121.9 x 91.4 cm)
Gift from Eric Laurentsen, Arizona 1995.061
Redheaded Adah Bennion, the youngest of three children of Joseph and Lee Bennion of Spring City, is often the subject of her mother's paintings. This picture depicts the six year old in her pajamas standing in a window casement, with cutout paper snowflakes on the glass panes. In her left hand, Adah holds a troll doll, her hand covering its face. All the viewer sees is the doll's legs and bright red-orange hair.
Typical of Lee Bennion's work is the composition which concentrates upon the essential components, in this case, the window and figure. Another feature of Bennion¼s work is the elongated figure, whose position she arranges to create an effective design. In this oil painting we see Adah gazing impishly at the viewer, while her pink-stockinged foot is wedged on the side of the window casing.
Although a bright, engaging portrait of her daughter, this painting, like Bennion's other work, has layers of meaning and references. There is a visual play on words in the paper snowflakes on the inside of the window and the real snowflakes outside. The troll doll is a reference to time and a tie to Lee's own childhood, when the dolls were first popular. Bennion also says that at the time of the painting, when Adah was young, Lee¼s life primarily revolved around her family and home, and she was inside much of the time. Thus, subconsciously, she painted the interior scene to represent her life, and the window to represent the future changes and possibilities.
As with most of Lee's work, Snow Queen¼s subject looks out at the viewer with an unusually direct gaze, not only conveying Adah's personality, but also allowing Lee, as the painter, to engage the viewer through that gaze.
Concepts
Visual Art Core Curriculum - Utah State Office of Education
Under the Standard of Making, this print can help the student:
* create the basic shapes in a variety of materials and combinations as a starting point for blocking in the major objects (for example, the parts of the figure can be made with the media of pipe cleaners or wires)
* explore the technique of texture rubbings by placing thin paper over a rough surface such as a brick or cinder block and then rubbing the side of a crayon, charcoal or soft pastel over the top of the paper to transfer the "texture" of the object onto the paper.
* explore the collage process by placing several actual, implied, and rubbing examples on a heavy cardstock (see Perceiving Standard for definition of actual and implied textures).
Under the Standard of Perceiving, this print can help the student:
* identify and classify the element of texture as portrayed in artworks according to the following two classifications:
o Actual: the artwork has a textured surface (rough, jagged, smooth, soft), or actual texture is applied to the work (for example, there are pieces of material, newsprint, or other objects adhered to the work). Note: when viewing artworks from a print or slide format it is often difficult to determine actual texture.
o Implied: the objects or shapes displayed within the artwork look like they have varying textures (for example, the clothing looks rough, the skin looks dried and weathered, the background looks smooth and silky).
* identify the classification that texture rubbings (see Making Standard above) fit under, actual or implied. Encourage the students to discuss the many combinations of classification rubbings can have. Note: rubbings are a combination of an implied texture that is taken from an actual surface.
* create an artwork that uses the element of texture to produce the principle of variety.
Under the Standard of Expressing, this print can help the student:
* describe the possible stories or themes artworks may be portraying.
* point out similarities and differences between the real objects and the ones portrayed in the artwork (for example, the texture of snow, the colors of evening skies).
* describe how colors, sizes of objects, basic shapes, and textures of objects within an artwork may help it convey a real or imagined story.
* create art that depicts stories, experiences, or themes.
* discuss how the concept of self is portrayed as a possible theme in artworks.
Under the Standard of Contextualizing, this print can help the student:
* show how the five senses help one to create art.
* identify different cultures through works of art.
* discuss the tactile (concerned with the sense of touch) qualities that artworks may have and how the element of texture may enhance the tactile aspects of a work (for example, some art forms in African cultures are specifically designed to be touched and held).
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