“Polly came into this world an artist,” says Carol Grant, speaking about her daughter Polly Breckenridge. “It was apparent from a very young age that she loved creating things out of whatever was available to her. That was her joy.”
Breckenridge, who died unexpectedly on April 22, 2022, is the subject of a memorial show at the McGuffey Art Center.
Deborah McLeod, director of Chroma Projects Art Lab, says of Breckenridge, “Polly’s work came from an honest and personal place deep within her psyche. She was a bright and perceptive figurative artist who painted the truths of her own life; her struggle as a deeply sensitive young woman constantly coming to terms with what that meant. She depicted the release of joy as often as she painted the confinement of sorrow. She knew both and she gave them to us delicately and with beauty.”
Born on May 4, 1975, in Towson, Maryland, Breckenridge was a graduate of VCU’s art education program. She was a resident artist at McGuffey Art Center and exhibited her work frequently. In addition to her own art practice, Breckenridge was a beloved art teacher at Village School and Walton Middle School, where she taught for nine years.
She incorporated a wide variety of materials and techniques into her work—acrylics, watercolor, inks, and printmaking, or gold leaf, mirror, and glitter for added zing. “She reached for whatever she felt would do the job,” says Grant.
The McGuffey show consists of paintings, drawings, monotypes, artist’s books, and an assortment of journals, doodles, and notes positioned on a kind of altar. “Monotype Play” comprises a light box and cut-out images that Breckenridge used to create her monotypes. Visitors are invited to make their own arrangements.
Breckenridge was concerned with the human condition. Her many subjects seem to be grappling with an enigmatic situation or force beyond their control. There’s alienation, but also connection. Though obviously human, her curious, attenuated figures are featureless, without faces, gender, or even race. Breckenridge wanted to eliminate these distinguishing factors, so that anyone could identify with them.
This inclusiveness and connectivity are underscored by the recurring mesh or bubble-like motif that skims across figures and surfaces in numerous works—most obvious in “Catch and Release” and “Stretch.” Composed of many circles (individual circles also appear often in Breckenridge’s work), the mesh suggests energy, or aura, magnified by repletion. It emanates from and encompasses the figures like a net connecting all living things.
Despite her figures’ stylized appearance, Breckenridge’s compositions reveal a deep understanding of how the human body works. This is apparent in “The Collector,” where the eye is drawn to the legs, knees, and wonderfully individualized feet rendered with ease. A striking painting, Breckenridge relaxes her perspective so the figure seems about to be dumped out from the splayed chair, and pairs a deep carmine background at the bottom with acid green and white stripes up top. These elements strike notes of discord that set the emotional tone of the piece. The subject, whose head is disproportionately small, is holding what appears to be a gold-filled purse in the right hand and a figurine in the left, perhaps weighing one against the other.
Another figurine lies discarded on the floor, and three others—two standing and one about to fall—are positioned on a blue-draped table. It’s unclear whether these are objects, or meant to represent people, or, perhaps, souls.
At the bottom of the piece, Breckenridge’s distinctive mesh appears to emanate from the head of the figurine on the floor, traversing up the central figure and continuing to the upper edge of the painting. It’s as if this figurine’s gilded disc has burst, leaving behind a trail of golden effervescence.
Breckenridge wrote prolifically. Only a small number of the many journals and sketchbooks she produced are on view, but they provide a fascinating window into the creative process and Breckenridge’s outlook and state of mind. She wrote freely, not expecting others to read what she wrote. “It’s the way she processed, the way she thought,” says Grant. “In her sketchbooks, her writing overlaps her drawings; they move together.”
In one striking passage Breckenridge writes: “We are temporary vessels for the containment of pure energy and spirit. Things happen through us.” It provides insight into Breckenridge’s perspective, and is also an apt descriptor of her art, where her figures could be interpreted as vessels and the actual subject matter deals with intangible forces that exist beyond the physical.
According to Grant, the printmaking process, which Breckenridge took up a few years ago, really resonated with her. “I think she was just at the start of something truly satisfying to her and her followers; a way of working that could bring together her love of the visual and her love of the written word.”
A celebration of Breckenridge’s life will take place on Sunday, August 14, at noon at McGuffey Art Center. Cellist Catherine Monnes will perform, and the ceremony will conclude with Breckenridge’s signature gesture of giant bubbles—her own kind of effervescence—released to the sky from the front lawn of McGuffey.