By its very nature, abstraction invokes a myriad of interpretations, often on a deeply intuitive and emotional level. In the work of Jeannie Motherwell, whose exhilarating, brilliantly inventive “Windows” and “Rosetta” series of collages opens tomorrow at the Lyman-Eyer Gallery, abstract design is suffused with realistic imagery in what can only be described as a visually poetic revelation of artistic intent. Writer Dan Cooper is entirely accurate when he states that “Motherwell’s collages speak to the heart, the spirit, and the mind.” Her self-described “shadow box world” invites the viewer into her thoughts and emotions and provides a refreshingly hopeful, heartfelt visual expression of “feelings and things that we all know or sense.” In a recent interview with Motherwell, it was fascinating to watch the play of expressions cross her strikingly handsome face as she sat on the floor, contemplating and discussing her work spread across the length of the gallery.

“All my work is collage,” Motherwell states by way of introduction. “I really like tearing paper. It’s a wonderful way to loosen up your arm. Some people will do a rough sketch to start out; an artist might begin by sketching and then refine it. I take a color and do a wash on a canvas, not really intending anything and working with shapes and lines. Then I start incorporating images, photos, whatever seems to catch my eye at the time. I feel strongly that what I like to do is collage. That’s my real voice. I used to make huge paintings in the

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