Pat Musick’s five paintings titled Tertium Quid which have been accepted into the NASA permanent art collection will soon be shipped and on their way to their new home. But before they leave Vermont they will have a two week showing at the Helmholz Fine Art Gallery in Manchester Center, VT.
In 1970 Pat Musick, responded to our expanding exploration of space,with concern that, as we moved into outer space for longer periods of time, we might change in many ways and wondered what this evolution might look like. The result was five stunning paintings that she titled Tertium Quid. (This is a Latin expression that means “a third thing that is indefinite and undefined but is related to two definite or known things”.) She saw mankind as the tertium quid caught between the earth and outer space, changing, shifting bending. Nine years after creating the series, she met and married Astronaut Jerry Carr, whose mission as Commander of Skylab 4 was to explore the effects of long duration space travel upon the human.
This exhibit includes the original Tertium Quid paintings and a discussion by Musick and Carr describing how art and science blended into a relationship of caring concern about our environment…how the tertium quid became known and defined.
Tertium Quid INNER-OUTER SPACE
About Pat Musick
For all of my life (since I was four), I have made art. Using my hands to create artwork is a privilege and a joy. If the art has a sense of peace...a zen feeling, then I have succeeded in my desire to make work that is harmonious and whole.
In order to achieve that goal, the art must be experienced. This website will provide that encounter and introduces you to my sculpture, paintings and drawings that span a forty year period. You will be able to see from whence I came, the changes over time and where I am going today. There has been much growth. I began as a painter and transitioned to wall sculpture, then free standing works. Over the years, I have retained my interest in two dimensions by making works on paper. The art moved from expressionistic to abstract to conceptual and has undergone a steady reduction to simpler elements and media.
The materials I use are stone, steel, wood, canvas and kozo paper and beeswax. Stone, wood, and beeswax reflect the natural world and steel, canvas and paper, the human. My artistic goal is to express the relationship between mankind and the environment and the tensions we exert upon each other. I search for resolution and reconciliation. I find it in the process of rebirth and renewal. From the natural world process of regeneration, I have learned that from adversity comes the chance for new beginnings.
I make both large and small, indoor and outdoor sculpture and works on paper. My work is represented in the permanent collections of over fifty museums and public spaces in the country. I have MA and PhD degrees from Cornell University and I am the author of four books.
I am represented by MK Fine Arts, Andover, New Hampshire, West Branch Gallery, Stowe, Vermont, Edgewater Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont and in the Fall, 2011 The Clark Gallery, Lincoln, Massachusetts.
