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Midnight reverie

Some artists paint pictures of fruit bowls, wintry landscapes and ocean sunsets.

Artist Mayme Kratz paints a window to her soul.

The gallery "Waking in the Dark," which opened yesterday at the University of Arizona Joseph Gross Gallery, takes the public on a journey through Kratz 's deepest thoughts and reveries.

"I wake up at night and write down my dreams," Kratz said. "My thoughts speak about matters of the heart. All my work comes from that."

The gallery combines poetry with three of Kratz's personal dream experiences. Using nature as her pallet, Kratz uses seed pods, insect wings, cactus roots, bird nests and even decaying birds to capture her most intense emotions. She also uses resin, a sticky sap-like substance, to add subtle tinting to her pieces.

Kratz has been showing her work in galleries for over 10 years. However, expression through art was a talent she had recognized all her life and had always wanted to pursue. As a result of her upbringing and lifestyle, Kratz 's pieces reflect nature and the way she values the natural world.

"When I'm out in nature, objects have a relationship," Kratz said. "My pieces are all about feeling and then I move to a cerebral place where I have to place things correctly."

The majority of the gallery consists of paintings, but Kratz is a sculptor as well. The center of the gallery displays a piece entitled "Exile." Kratz cast a series of multi-colored resin sculptures shaped like boats. Each boat, symbolizing a journey of change, contains a different object from nature.

"I knew from my dream that I needed to take these objects that I have and send them on a journey," she said. "They were no longer mine."

According to Kratz, no single piece can be dubbed as her favorite. Yet, she has not quite detached herself from one painting in particular - "Forgiveness." The upper portion of the piece depicts three bird nests, each set apart from the other, against a deep blue background. The painting as a whole represents a feeling so intense that Kratz in not yet ready to disclose its meaning to public.

Each piece in the gallery holds personal significance for Kratz. The pieces are not to be taken as literal portrayals of nature but rather nature and thought through the eyes of the artist. The collection of paintings and sculptures represent Kratz's innermost senses of passion and loneliness.

"Waking in the Dark" will be available for public viewing through Feb. 20, including a reception for Kratz on Friday, Jan. 21. For further information, call Julie Sasse, Galleries Curator, at 626-4215.