“Judith Peck has made
it her life’s work to paint about history and healing.” Judith Peck
Judith Peck enjoys the struggle of creation. As a sculptor
and a painter she went from art school to college professor and her studio work
in-between. Although she has retired from Ramapo College she has not retired
from art. Her earlier sculpture work includes One Man in Memory of Six Million - bronze and a recent painting Insight – oil and plaster on board.
She has taught sculpture and painting at Ramapo College
which included mixed media work. One painting that may fall partially under the
mixed media label is Jus In Bello –
oil and plaster with ball bearings. She does embellish her paintings, “I paint
with oils mostly on board often imbedded with gessoed plaster shards.” Another
sculpture which is mixed media is Outsourced
- wood, found objects. She has also put her expertise into a college textbook, Sculpture As Experience, which was
written as a step by step series of lesson plans.
Peck was motivated by A
Theory of Justice by the philosopher John
Rawlings to use a legal concept and transform it into commanding paintings making
it her life’s work to paint about the history and healing of social injustice.
Peck said, “The goal is to have the viewer become the philosopher.” When
painting she takes the chosen colors and applies layers of glaze to create a
luminous vibrancy. She paints her models to have an inner glow separate from
the background. She aims to generate a charisma that can be seen in the figure.
She wants the viewer to become the philosopher and emphasize with the figure.
