Alumna transforms photographs into abstract art at a local gallery
By Kyle Wittenbraker
Staff Reporter

Simple photographs are transformed into abstract works of art in the hands of TCU alumna Rosalyn Bodycomb, whose exhibitions are currently displayed throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

The former Horned Frog shoots photos off the hip to catch people in a candid pose and then paints over the photograph to create something new, a process she calls figurative painting.

“I’m a better painter than I am a photographer,” Bodycomb said. “I use the photographs as a starting point for my paintings.”

Cynthia Mulcahy, gallery owner of the Mulcahy Modern Gallery in Dallas where Bodycomb’s work is currently on display, said her art makes viewers feel as if you are standing in the scene.

“She is an emerging talent and has received a lot of recognition,” Mulcahy said.

Bodycomb’s work is also on display at the Arlington Museum of Art.

Exhibit curator Charles Wylie chose to include Bodycomb’s work in the “Meanwhile, Elsewhere” show, which opens Nov. 14 at the museum. He said her work fits in with the show’s theme of imagining your place in the world and being somewhere else at the same time.

“It has a strange, otherworldly look to it,” Wylie said.

Her work is intriguing because of what she is able to do with the photographs, Wylie said.

“Her work almost becomes an object in and of itself,” Wylie said. “I’m attracted to that kind of meticulous technique that she is profound at.”

Bodycomb said she wanted to use symbols to trigger people’s collective unconsciousness and originally tried to achieve this through abstract art. This approach was too obscure and did not make a connection with the viewers, she said.

After receiving her undergraduate degree in printmaking, Bodycomb returned to TCU several years later to get a graduate degree in painting. She said TCU has a strong drawing program and that she received a fine traditional education in visual arts.

“After getting your undergrad degree, you have to make a lot of growth happen, which is difficult to do,” Bodycomb said. “Graduate school gives you two years to work.”

Bodycomb said she recently moved to New York. She said different environments affect her use of color and the way her compositions are put together.

Mulcahy Modern is located in the Bishop Arts District south of downtown Dallas. Bodycomb’s work will be on display until Nov. 20.