Ritual Gaze
Ritual Gaze
These figures exist on the edge of what is believable. They flit between familiarity and fantasy, their features and surroundings not quite rooted in the real world. Anomalous colors and awkward proportions nudge the scenes into an imagined space, suggesting the figures inhabit internal landscapes.
I create these figures intuitively, often inventing body language, a color palette, and flora reflecting my emotional state while I paint. Influenced by Northern Renaissance painters and their ability to convey authentic expression through quirky exactness, many of my pieces investigate the psyche that exists behind subtle facial expressions. Delicate shifts in their features suggest feelings of curiosity, anxiety, contentment, or isolation. I glaze oil paint in a manner reminiscent of these artists, building layers to achieve convincing detail.
I am interested in creating familiar yet uncomfortable and ambiguous scenes; by making intimate, small-scale pieces, I encourage the viewer to search for a narrative within the details. For me that narrative includes contemporary mythologies as they relate to women. Theses females are vulnerable, sexual, but not sexualized. In part, the work serves as a counterpoint to women marginalized and objectified throughout art’s history.