Vintage photos and ephemera, bright colors against faded backgrounds, pop culture iconography.. these are a few of my favorite things and they can all be found in the work of Melody Postma.
Absolute Beginners, mixed media on panel, 36×36 ( via Lanoue Fine Art )
This Clearwater, FL native and graduate of SCAD shares my own fascination with old photographs, utilizing their documentary/slice-of-life style and pop culture graphics of years gone by to create work that calls to us from the past. We see our parents and grandparents in these faces, recalling memories of favorite games, candy, the way of life as we like to remember it.
Languishing in the Calm, mixed media on panel, 36×36 ( via Lanoue Fine Art )
Looking at these images and icons leads me to wonder.. Will audiences in the future be impacted as emotionally when they look back on today’s culture? Will we see artists exploring the good ol’ days of the 00’s, the digital revolution, reality shows and social media? Will the cultural phenomena of today hold as much charm as other decades?
Might Cause Double Vision, mixed media on panel, 42×42 ( via Lanoue Fine Art )
Or is it just that we always look back with nostalgia at times that held precious memories or periods that we’ve idealized? Maybe it’s the 21st century cynic in me, but I’m just not sure we’ll look back on the current era quite as fondly. Or maybe it’s that most of us didn’t live through the eras we’re most nostalgic about. And perhaps that what Melody Postma is getting at.
A Memory Hard to Ignore, mixed media on panel, 36×36 ( via Lanoue Fine Art )There’s Treasure Children Always, mixed media on panel, 36×36 ( via Lanoue Fine Art )
If you were around for artsyFASHIONWeek, you may already have an inkling of my interest in the relationship between fashion and art. Lately, I’ve been thinking more and more about the influence of the fashion industry, what the clothes we wear say about our personalities and just the general psychology behind the fueling of the fashion industry and the choices that we make. Toronto artist Amanda Clyne examines the influence of fashion upon our psyche in her paintings, in which she “examines the image as a mirror of our desires”.
Amanda finds inspiration for her work in the pages of art history books and fashion magazines, seeing similarities between fashion photography of today and historical portraits of the elite. They both carry with them the same fascination with beauty, wealth and transformation.. “images intended to fuel a spectacle of desire with feigned promises of intimacy and truth”. ( Amanda Clyne via her website )
The artist fragments her subject, creating an elusive illusion, much like a hall of mirrors. Our eyes deceive us, all isn’t as it would seem. An important point to remember when gazing longingly at those $300 shoes that will make us beautiful and desirable. ( Um, not that I’ve ever done that.. )
The way she uses fragments of images to create the whole could be an interpretation of the illusionary aspects of fashion advertising and photography. The images we see are the composition of designers, photographers, photo editors, art directors, etc. They represent an idealized portrayal of only one aspect of our being.
To see more of Amanda Clyne’s work, please visit her website and Facebook page. If any of you Canadians out there are in Toronto, be sure to check out her latest show opening December 8th at p|m Gallery.
Featured image is Mirror, Mirror ( diptych ), oil on canvas, 72×36. All images are via the artist’s website.
Growing up, I wanted to be Audrey Hepburn. Or Doris Day. Or any of the beautiful, plucky, well-dressed heroines of the 50’s and 60’s. I longed for the “good ol’ days”. When women dressed up in hats and gloves to go shopping and flitted around the house in chiffon petticoats. But then I woke up and realized that I was looking at the past through movie-colored glasses. That those women, while dressed to the nines on-screen, still had to scrub toilets and change diapers and were still fighting to be recognized as equals. But have we really come that far? Artist Kelly Reemsten captures the frustration and seeming futility of all that it means to be female in a post-feminist world.
Cleaning Is Addictive, oil on panel, 36×36
Reemsten’s women are dressed in highly feminine candy colored vintage frocks, but often wielding iconically masculine tools such as a chainsaw or axe. These tools can be seen perhaps as menacing or even empowering. Or rather, looking at the imagery as a whole, the dresses and tools may be symbols of our efforts as women to “have it all”.
Inconspicuous, oil on panel, 36×36
Women still feel pressured, perhaps now more than ever to be all things to all people. They are expected to not only cook, clean, care for children, etc., but now are also expected to have a successful career. And look fabulously fashionable while doing it. What once was strictly male domain is now our stomping ground, as well.
Unrequited, oil on panel, 36×36
Are the women pictured trying to maintain their femininity in a male dominated workforce? Or are they working to show us that gender differences are inherently there and should not be ignored? We were created equal, yet different.
The Hopeless Romantic, oil on panel, 36×36Throw Back, oil on panel, 36×36
What say you, Artsies? While you’re pondering, take a gander on over at Kelly Reemsten’s website to see more of her work.
Featured image is Slip, oil on panel, 72×48. All images are via the artist’s website.
There is no doubt that the US as a country, heck, the earth as a planet even, seems to have an obsession with celebrity. There is something about the famous ( and infamous ) that fascinates us. Artists are no strangers to celebrating celebrity. Many masters honed their skills and made their livings rendering work of the rich and famous. So today, Artsy Forager is featuring celebrity-driven work. Watch out for the paparazzi!
La Dada Gaga, (Marcel Duchamp's L.H.O.O.Q. + Lady Gaga) by Troy Gua, resin-coated Lightjet Metallic Print Mounted on 6mm Sintra, 36 x 36Bob Dylan by Jon Langford, digital print and mixed media on panel, 10×14 via Augen GalleryBill Murray, celebrity portrait photoshopped onto portrait by George Dawes by Steve Payne via Artist A DayMadonna by John Duckworth, acrylic on panel, liquid glass topcoat, 24×24
To see more of these artists’ work, please visit their websites. Have an epic weekend, Artsies!
The art world is a strange, small place. How else do you explain that I saw an artist’s work on the website of a Boston gallery, which I stumbled upon through searching for another artist, only to discover that the artist I found has connections to my former neck of the woods in Florida? Call it fate, call it kismet, call it Al, if you like, but it means that I must feature the work of Gainesville artist Maggie Taylor on Artsy Forager.
Ever After, pigmented digital print, 15×15
Her technique of scanning and layering images in Photoshop ( read more on her technique here ), give these haunting works the visual texture and depth of paintings.
Hornet's Nest, pigmented digital print, 15×15
The works are dreamlike, in that way where nothing in dreams seems completely logical, yet feels very real. The rich, luminous colors add to the intense emotionality and daguerreotype quality. It’s like looking through a stereoscope into another world.
Garden, pigmented digital print, 8×8No Right Answer, pigmented digital print, 15×15
There’s something you should know about me, Artsies. I grew up completely immersed in the styles of past eras. My dad loves “classic Chevy’s“, that’s 1955, ’56 & ’57 Chevrolets, for those not in the know, and a lot of our family time revolved around my parents’ involvement in a local classic car club. The adults I grew up around reveled in the cars, clothes and music of the past. So I kind of automatically have love for anything with a retro-ish vibe. Enter Anna Magruder’s artwork.
Amphibious, oil on canvas, 16×16
This Portland artist looks back at the people and images of the past, re-imagining their lives and stories. These re-imaginings have a dreamlike quality to them, like old photos you’ve found in the family photo box, yet know one knows who they are or the stories behind them.
Book Of Poems, oil on canvas, 16×16
Her muted color palette further reinforces the vintage feel of her work, so that they read almost like the faded Kodachrome images of the past.
Cheer, oil on canvas, 12×12Big Wheel, oil on canvas, 16×12
To see more of Anna Magruder’s work, please visit her website.
Featured image is Observer ( Mediator ), oil on canvas, 16×16.
Remember when I said that I have a wish list of portrait artists? Well, modern portrait artist Lu Cong has been at the top of the heap for quite a while. He infuses his portraits with a soft glow that is at once ethereal and alien.
Tabitha #9, oil on panel, 36×40
His soft palette creates a peaceful atmosphere, juxtaposed with the slightly off-putting direct gaze of the subject. The result is a stunning image of not just the portrait sitter, but of a momentary glimpse into their emotional world.
A Song At Dusk, oil on panel, 30×30
Eyes wide and lips slightly parted, there is an intense vulnerability captured in these images. Not merely paintings of physical features, but souls laid bare.
Corbin #2, oil on panel, 32×28My Name is Tabitha, oil on panel, 36×48
To see more of Lu Cong’s haunting portrait paintings, please visit his website and Facebook page. ( Don’t forget to follow Artsy Forager, too, while you’re at it! )
Featured image is A Moment With Liza, oil on panel, 24×18. All images are via the artist’s website.
When I first saw Amy Sherald’s paintings, I immediately loved them for their bold, graphic quality and quirkiness. But it wasn’t until I took a closer look that I realized that these were more than just eccentric portraits.
The Rabbit in the Hat
Sherald chooses to paint the skin tones of her African American figures, not their normal beautiful brown tones, but dull grays. In doing so, she uses her choice of paint color to comment on the push for African Americans to “fit in” with white society.
They Call Me Redbone But I’d Rather Be Strawberry Shortcake
Having been one of only a few African Americans in a predominately white private school in the South, Sherald draws ( literally ) on her experience of trying to maintain her racial identity while feeling the need to put on certain white characteristics in order to be socially accepted among her peers. This “performance” aspect is depicted in her work but the appearance of characters, costumes, masks, etc.
It Made Sense… Mostly In Her Mind
Miss Everything (Unsupressed Deliverance)
You can see in these works, a sense of the frustration and futility of denying your true self to fit in. How often do we pick up our own mask or put on our own costume, when we are afraid of being rejected for who we truly are?
Check out Amy Sherald’s website for more images of her work and be sure to read her insightful artist statement.
Confession: I kind of have a list of artists who I would love to have paint my portrait. These are artists through whose eyes I want to see myself. Is that weird? Wait, on second thought, don’t answer that. Anyhoo… right now, near the top of the list is Ann Marshall, only behind Deborah Scott, who was the one to introduce me to Ann’s work in the first place. This is an artist who is able to capture the essence of her sitter’s soul and bare it onto the canvas in a strong yet soft way.
Sunshine and Molasses, pastel and paper collage on paper, 39×55
Her detailed surfaces and the way the figures are incorporated into their surroundings give her work an ethereal, haunting quality, yet they still feel fresh and modern.
Katherine, oil and collage on canvas, 30×40
I definitely see a contemporary take on art nouveau and some fabulous Gustav Klimt-ish layering of pattern.
Garden, pastel and paper collage on paper, 39×55 and 19×55
Then there’s the Pre-Raphaelitish influence of some of the compositions and poses, which give the work a wonderfully romantic, Brontesque quality.
I Used to be a Southern Belle, pastel and paper collage on paper, 55×39
Her figures are rendered with stunningly quiet power and vulnerability. Which, I think, as women is exactly how we might like to see ourselves.
To see more of Ann Marshall’s work, please visit her website and Facebook page.
Featured image is Wait by Ann Marshall. All images are via the artist’s website.
Ann Marshall’s feature was written to music by She & Him.
Jacksonville artist Christina Foard has been developing a series of paintings, “Dresses”, which explore the connection between what we wear, our personality, our past, present and future. Here, Christina talks candidly about this series and what she sees as the psychology behind our fashion choices.
AF: Hi Christina! Thank you so much for taking the time for this little interview. You know how much I love your work. I am completely enamored with your dress series and am so excited you have been creating some new pieces! How did this series begin and how has it evolved?
C: I’ve been working on dresses since 2008. It began with self-portraits where I am wearing gowns painted with mapped areas or terrain I’ve covered. Mapped gowns was a personification and extension of aerial landscapes that I had begun a year prior. (Ballerina Dance, The Written Legacy, Fluid Gown ( below ), The Courtesan, A Life-changing Conversation, A Single Mom’s Playground, Picnic of Adulthood are some of these.) Since it was more about the journey, decisions and influences, I eventually removed the figure altogether. I began to place myself in and amongst other women, each of us represented symbolically as a dress. In these, I paint the way someone feels to me. It’s more about vitality and energy than their physical presence…a little like painting a pattern of the music they emanate and comparing those rhythmic differences in a series. ( “Pajama Party” ( below ), “Three Sisters”, “Five Friends” ). For example, a 90 year old woman with a saucy, adventuresome personality might end up with the most flamboyant and lively dress, which looks more suitable for a 20 year old.
Recently, in “Polka Dot Party” ( below ) and a few others, my focus area shifted from observing others to a discussion of how I choose to present myself to the world around me each day. Again, choices, decisions and influences.
Liquid Gown, oil on canvas, 60×48
The Pajama Party, oil on canvas, 36×60
AF: Tell me about what you see as the psychology around fashion and the garments we choose to clothe ourselves in.
C: When we are shopping for clothes, we pass up most items available. We reject all the items which don’t fit our perception of ourselves or our perception of our bodies. These rejections are as telling as what we eventually choose to buy. We essentially have to contend with the roles we play in our relationships as well as physical issues that dictate attire: seasons, terrain and climate. Specifically for women whose options vary greatly, our choices can openly display themes of femininity: sexuality, power, accessibility, creativity, compassion, social status, affluence, self-respect. Because our attire speaks so loudly about who we are and who we aren’t, we also deal with influence and who we hope to engage with on a given day. How accessible do I want to make myself today? How much do I want to reveal? How much do I want to conceal? Do I want to lead or do I want to be one of the masses? Do I want to bring attention to myself? These aren’t conscious questions we ask ourselves necessarily; yet they sit below the surface.
Behavior and language is affected by dress. From my personal experience I’ve noticed that I’m more expressive and creative when I wear a long scarf; more formal, precise, and attentive wearing a suit jacket; more nurturing and tactile in a long flowing dress. I notice my energy, tone, and carriage alters depending on the femininity of my fabrics, the structural formality of a garment, the heel height of my shoes, the accessories I’ve chosen. My language and sentence structures change, my accessibility to others is affected. The emotional, physical, and psychological components are intertwined. This, I find fascinating.
Orange Scarf, oil on canvas, 29×42
AF: I’ve noticed a few of your latest works in this series are named after women. Are these “portraits” of specific women?
C:Yes, they are. It is part of a social “inspiration” project that I began in 2009 and will be complete in the next several months. It is comprised of 6 individual paintings around 40″ and one larger 10′ painting. It is entitled Accidental Mentors Project and I’ll be sure to let you know all about it when fully complete.
Cindy: Structural Integrity
AF: I can’t wait to see the completed series! Do you have a favorite article of clothing? What makes it special and what does it say about you, as a woman, as an artist or as a mother?
C:I found this question challenging, if you can believe it. I decided on one long skirt I’ve had for about 6 years. It has a conservative pattern on a somewhat sheer fabric, yet a Latin-inspired construction. Every time I wear it, it makes me feel like dancing and I couldn’t feel more feminine or more perfectly my age in it. Because of how it makes me feel, I’ve also had some great memories attached to it. That adds a sentimental component.
Decisions, mixed media on canvas, 36×60
AF: Finally, just for fun.. What are you wearing? 😉
C:Pink racer-back NIKE T-shirt, navy blue Adidas cropped workout pants and my favorite socks – my running shoes yet to be put on. Plus, a little locket with my kids’ tiny toddler faces inside. The combination seems perfect at this quiet, early morning moment before the sun has arrived.
A huge thank you to Christina for sharing her work and insights. To see more of this talented artist’s work, please visit her website.
Featured image is Christina in her downtown Jacksonville studio. All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.
