artsy forager

Tag: figurative art

  • Vintage Pop: Melody Postma

    Vintage Pop: Melody Postma

    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 )

    To see more of Melody Postma’s work, please visit her website.  Her work can also be viewed at Lanoue Fine Art in Boston, Hubert Gallery in NYC, Gallery Brown in L.A and Trudy Labell Fine Art in Naples, FL.

    Featured image is An Afternoon With Whitman, mixed media on panel, 36×36.

  • Fashion Fragmented: Amanda Clyne

    Fashion Fragmented: Amanda Clyne

    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”.

    Double Take by Amanda Clyne

    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 )

    Looking Back by Amanda Clyne

    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.. )

    Losing Face by Amanda Clyne

    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.

    Clyne_Looking Glass

    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.

  • You’ve Come A Long Way to Bring Home the Bacon, Baby: Kelly Reemtsen

    You’ve Come A Long Way to Bring Home the Bacon, Baby: Kelly Reemtsen

    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, 36×36
    Throw 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.

  • Friday Faves: Cause Celeb

    Friday Faves: Cause Celeb

    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 36
    Bob Dylan by Jon Langford, digital print and mixed media on panel, 10×14 via Augen Gallery
    Bill Murray, celebrity portrait photoshopped onto portrait by George Dawes by Steve Payne via Artist A Day
    Madonna 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!

    1.  Troy Gua

    2.  Jon Langford

    3.  Steve Payne 

    4.  John Duckworth

    Featured image is Audrey in Moonlight Peacock ( study ) by Sarah Ashley Longshore.  All images are via the artists’ websites unless otherwise noted.

  • The Magical Maggie Taylor

    The Magical Maggie Taylor

    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, 8×8
    No Right Answer, pigmented digital print, 15×15

    Maggie Taylor’s work is available for viewing on her website and Facebook page.  She has upcoming shows at the Center of Creative Arts in St. Louis and the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles.  Her work can also be seen at Lanoue Fine Art in Boston, as well as other galleries throughout the US and a few in Europe and Asia.

    Featured image is The Rehearsal, pigmented digital print, 15×15.  All images are via the Lanoue Fine Art website.

  • Vintage Vignettes: Anna Magruder

    Vintage Vignettes: Anna Magruder

    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, 12×12
    Big 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.

  • Friday Faves: Think Pink

    Friday Faves: Think Pink

    In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this Friday Faves round up is dedicated to the color pink.  Pink is the color of femininity, yes, but it is also becoming a symbol of positivity and the power to overcome.  This month and always, Artsy Forager encourages you to Think Pink– breast cancer is a threat to us all, but what an encouragement it is to see so many women ( and men ) winning their battle!  I hope you’ll consider making a donation or linking to The Pink Fund on your blog of Facebook page, look for the link at the bottom of the post.

    Rabbit Girl by Denise Nestor, acrylic on canvas, 20×30
    Lilly by Michelle Armas, acrylic on canvas, 18×18
    Monet’s Dahlia, acrylic on canvas, 36×30
    Torn Dress by M.A. Tateishi, mixed media and resin on board, 36×48
    Mariposa by Sarah Ashley Longshore

    To see more of today’s featured artists’ work, please visit their websites:

    1.  Denise Nestor

    2.  Michelle Armas

    3.  Lisa Ernst

    4.  M.A. Tateishi

    5.  Sarah Ashley Longacre 

    Don’t forget to check out The Pink Fund, a non-profit whose mission is to provide short-term financial aid to women and men who are in active treatment for and recovery from breast cancer.  Getting well shouldn’t mean financial ruin.

  • Bare Naked Portraits: Lu Cong

    Bare Naked Portraits: Lu Cong

    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, 32×28
    My 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.

  • Make Way For Pamela’s Parade: Pamela Durga Robinson

    Make Way For Pamela’s Parade: Pamela Durga Robinson

    Everyone loves a parade, don’t they?  Well, I certainly do.  And Seattle artist Pamela Durga Robinson’s Parade series brilliantly captures the spirits of the parts that make the whole.

    Drill Team Captain, oil on canvas, 36×36

    She choses to isolate the individual players– band members, clowns, audience– so that we can focus in on them and their experience.

    Seasoned Critics, oil on canvas, 12×12

    Her figures are so human.. these are your parents, children, friends, the people you see at the supermarket on Sunday.  She uses negative space to give importance to figures that otherwise might just be faces lost in the crowd.  And her brightly colored backgrounds recall the upbeat cheeriness of a parade and provide an interesting juxtaposition against the sometimes sullen faces.

    Flutes All In A Row, oil on canvas, 12×12
    Drill Team Wannabes, oil on canvas, 12×12

    To see more of Pamela’s parade of characters, be sure to check out her website.  You can also see her work in person ( and enjoy some yummy goodies ) at Fresh Flours on Phinney Ave in Seattle.

    Featured image is Anticipation, oil on canvas, 36×12.  All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Assimilating Identities: Amy Sherald

    Assimilating Identities: Amy Sherald

    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.

    SaveSave

    SaveSave