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Category: Figurative

Move. Jasmine Deporta.

As a blogger and freelancer, I spent a good deal of each day planted in a chair in front of the computer screen. Isn’t there a rule of physics that an object at still will stay at still? That is what it feels like some days. The chair is sucking me in. I’m glued to it. Before I know it, hours have gone by without moving from the seat.

Barcelona based photographer Jasmine Deporta‘s sofa safari series seems to reflect our tendency to become married to our seats. What is that about, anyway? Isn’t life so much more enjoyable when you are in motion? Like me, many of us use work as an excuse for our inertia. On the weekends, I am usually bursting to move- to get out from the cell of four walls whether that means hiking, gallery hopping or just wandering about. Seeing the world in three dimensions, away from the sofa cushions brings vibrancy to the work you do from your seat. And motivation to leave it.

How are you moving this weekend? I’m ready to go!

To see more of Jasmine Deporta‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website. Artist found via I Need a Guide.

April 10, 2015
Tribes. Erica Lambertson.

It can be a struggle to find your people. When we’re young and not yet fully who we are meant to be, we often find ourselves in the midst of people simply because they are the ones that are around or because of a longing to be cool, popular, etc. And life can still be that way. On social media and in the blog world especially, we’re bombarded with images of the “cool kids” doing amazing things, enjoying success. It can make us long to be a part of their pack.

But what I’ve learned, and believe me it’s taken a long time, is that there is a group of people that will get you. And those who don’t can be fun to hang with occasionally, but they aren’t your people. Your people, your tribe, are the ones who hold your hand through thick and thin, who get your jokes, who understand your passions. They are out there.

Featured artwork by New Orleans artist Erica Lambertson. See more of Erica’s work on her website.

All images via the artist’s website. Artist found via Gallery Orange.

March 30, 2015
Glimpses. Trent Call.

Every day whether through face to face interactions or social media, we get tiny peeks into the lives of other people. And often, through those small glimpses, we make conclusions about who they are. Truthfully, we make judgements.

So and so always seems to be on vacation, where do they come up with the money? That woman dragging her kids through the grocery store at 8pm, shouldn’t those kids be in bed? But when we’re only offered slices of the truth, it is impossible to know the whole picture.

In the obscured blurriness of these paintings by Salt Lake City artist Trent Call we see just enough of the story to attempt a conclusion. But is the answer we find the right one? Is it really what we see or our own version of the truth?

All images via the artist’s website. Artist found via Juxtapoz.

March 23, 2015
Emergence. Ryan Hewett.

Some people seem to be born knowing exactly who they are and they never waver. Others of us spend a good deal of our lives trying to figure it out! The process can be slow, but eventually, it will be apparent when our true selves emerge. To me, these paintings by Ryan Hewett seem to mimic those stages of self discovery and acceptance.

In his bold, painterly brushstrokes, we see in some elements of each face more detail than others. Just as the process of finding who we are is about refining, we become known in some ways more quickly and distinctly than others. Some aspects of who we are take a much longer time to nail down, especially as we shed inhibitions and outside influences. Once we can quiet that cacophony, we can hear the voice inside.

To see more of Ryan Hewett’s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

March 16, 2015
Presence. Jane Krupp.

As Mr. F and I continue our travels, sometimes I think about the way we drift into and out of a community– for a time, we’re locals, we begin to become recognized at the local coffee shop and grocery store and then *poof* suddenly we’re gone. It’s as if we were never there. I do wonder, are we missed? Do folks speculate about happened to that bearded man and his lady? Miami photographer Jane Krupp, in her Day Ghosts series captures the way daily our interactions are so fleeting.

Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.

This quote by Anita Desai came up in my Facebook feed this morning and it’s something I think of often. How each place we go, whether a physical location or mental, emotional, or spiritual spot, influences us in ways we may not realize until we have vacated it. I think it is the same with the people we come into contact with. We never know the impact we make, for better or for worse, on the people in our presence. I hope our fleeting existence leaves a wake for good.

To see more of Jane Krupp‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

March 13, 2015
Choosing. Katie O’Hagan.

Every day, we’re faced with thousands of decisions, some seemingly insignificant, others life changing. But with each decision is our choice to go down this path or the other. Sushi or pizza. Turn left or turn right. In the paintings of Katie O’Hagan, I’m reminded that no matter what the alternatives, in every circumstance we have a say perhaps not in what happens but in how we react to it.

We have to be careful not to think too very much about what could be the significance of every tiny decision we make– we run the risk of freezing in fear. Instead, we make our choices and know that we chose what we thought was right at the time. We may turn out to be wrong, but better to find ourselves in the wrong place than nowhere at all.

To see more of Katie O’Hagan‘s work, please visit her website.

All images via the artist’s website.

March 9, 2015
Being. Linda Christensen.

As artists, our sources of inspiration and interest are as varied as we are. Those who chose the figure as their subject find an endless supply of stimuli, since what’s that old saying– wherever you go, there you are? We are surrounded by other human beings and even alone, there is still the figure that looks back at us in the mirror. Santa Cruz artist Linda Christensen explores the essence of the human form as it moves from moment to moment.

Whether caught in action or repose, Christensen’s figures still seem in transition, waiting to move or moving toward rest. It can be tough to find ourselves in those moments. We’re anticipating what is ahead, but still find ourselves needing to move within the now. By necessity, we focus on what is instead of what may be. And we find ourselves content with just being.

To see more of Linda Christensen’s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

March 6, 2015
Facades. Sean Mahan.

I’ve been called intense several times in my life and each time I take it as a compliment. I’m not unfriendly, but I’m also not super outgoing and smiley, which often leads to well meaning strangers telling me to smile. I am afraid, though, that sometimes my serious demeanor may make me seem less approachable or happy than I am. When going through the website of a fellow Florida artist I’ve admired for a long time, Sean Mahan, I was struck by how much his slightly sad-seeming figures reminded me of my own misunderstood facade.

This pattern of assumption and misapprehension goes both ways, too. Sometimes the people who seem the happiest and most jovial are deep down incredibly sad. We put on a display for other people.. it’s what is expected, what makes them comfortable, no matter whether or not it is true to what we feel inside. It’s taken me a long time to be content with my own temperament, to be OK with being the quiet observer instead of the life of the party. But it is who I am and I’m cool with that. Just don’t tell me to smile.

To see more of Sean Mahan‘s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

February 27, 2015
Dissections. Jean Faucheur.

Mr. F and I have been doing a lot of breaking it down lately. No, that isn’t some sort of euphemism and no, I don’t mean breakdancing. We’ve been apartment hunting in Marin County, where we’ve just landed for the next three months ( and hopefully by the time you’re reading this, we’ve found a home! ) and have been analyzing every possible rental backwards and forwards. It’s pretty amazing how a place might look like a fabulous bargain until we start breaking down extra costs associated. These photo collages by Jean Faucheur remind me of the way our perspectives change once we come at something from all possible angles.

Just a minut shift to the left or to the right can alter our perception completely, perhaps allowing us to become aware of details we just couldn’t see before. Have you ever found yourself going steadily along one way of thinking only to suddenly experience a revelation that causes a monumental shift? Feels like I’ve been experiencing a lot of those lately. Dizzying at first, but ultimately clarifying!

To see more of Jean Faucheur‘s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

February 23, 2015
Storytelling. Andrea Kowch.

I love a good story. Be it novel, film, or just an anecdote, I can’t get enough. Mr. F is a marvelous storyteller, far better than I’ll ever be. He has more stories than the Grimm brothers. While abstract painting has my heart, I do love the intricacies and narrative intrigue of allegorical painting, and in the work of Andrea Kowch, the visual storytelling shines.

It seems to me that with the advent of social media, as a society, we’re rediscovering our storytelling roots. On Twitter, we’re challenged to set a scene with just 140 characters. Instagram allows we visual folks to tell our stories through photos– often more powerful than words. Kowch’s figures with their sly, knowing gazes and hair in wild disarray drew me in when I first saw them in the Get Real show at MOCA when I was home in Florida. In the way her characters interact with each other, the viewer, and the world around them we seem to be catching them in the midst of a private scene– one whose true story is known only to the artist, but perhaps not even she.

To see more of the work of Andrea Kowch, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

February 16, 2015

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