My recent work is an exploration of my own psychological
space. The work reflects a range of
subject matter that is explored formally as well as conceptually.
The brushstrokes, drips and buildup of paint, as well as
drawing elements all collide on the canvases, paper or metal, presenting an
idiosyncratic approach to both the figure, and painting itself. The work questions the validity of subject
matter, authenticity and ownership.
Theresa,
your strongest element within you work is your capability to capture the human form and the emotions that go along with the depicted poses. The figures emotion seems to be the catalyst of how the painting is to be rendered. In the painting with the female bust looking to the sky your minimal execution gives a sense of relief, the painting Bad Girl number #2 (the girl with the fur coat) and the painting with the girl sitting backwards on a chair you lay the paint on thicker in places giving a sense of need for attention and concern. These are nice approaches to dealing with the different issues you are talking about, but I think that in each you could go further use the paint drips, the build in up of paint, painterly brushstrokes and the blank canvas in a more selective and decisive manner. In doing this you will not only help the viewer understand your psychological spaces, but have parts of your paintings fall in and out of the realities as you choose fit.
In Black Boots, Bad girl # 2 and the painting of the girl sitting backwards in the chair you show moments of this focus for the viewer, but this get lost in the works unclear and sometimes un-descriptive use of drips, washes and paint strokes. The Black boots painting you render the boots unlike anything else in the painting, which is nice, but I start questioning why the rest of the painted is so highly under realized? I believe that you could render the whole painting more and bring the boots to a highly realistic style or you could possibly make the painting around the boots even more ambiguous. Bad girl # 2 displays that more ambiguous setting giving focus to the figure, but it is in the figures coat I start to lose the painting. With the under painting of the figure’s structure showing through parts of the coat I am left wondering why the exposed part of the figure is not rendered more than a couple layers of washes? The painting of the girl sitting on the chair seems to have that rendered quality that is missing in Bad Gil #2. Though I don’t think your treatment of the background is unsuccessful, your choice to give more attention to how you paint the female figures bust compared to the rest of the figure gives a sense of beauty that not completely there in the rest of the work. The way you paint her face gives the viewer the sense of her humanity, suffering and also her acceptance of what and who she is.
For me your paintings do not question the validity of the subject matter, the authenticity but it does make me question my ownership as a viewer and how I see these people I am interacting with.
I like what is starting to happen in your figures, and there is a lot going on that I had not even touched upon. It may also be helpful if you help spark up a larger conversation by bringing up issues you are personally struggling within your work or point out crucial elements to your work that I over looked in my initial response.
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