Written by Amanda Shepherd.
My work centers around the paradoxical. It merges historical with the contemporary. Beauty with abject. Macro with micro. Fluidity with constraint.
abstract expressionism
noun, ( sometimes initial capital letters )
a movement in experimental, nonrepresentational painting originating in the U.S. in the 1940s, with sources in earlier movements, and embracing many individual styles marked in common by freedom of technique, a preference for dramatically large canvases, and a desire to give spontaneous expression to the unconscious.
My work is a paradoxical merging of the historical movement of Abstract Expressionism with a contemporary focus on the body as a biological entity. My pieces are about the symbiotic relationship between the inner-workings of the body and the way disease invades and destroys.
dis·ease [dih-zeez] noun, verb, dis·eased,dis·eas·ing.
noun, a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.
Through subconscious creation I let the paint create its own path on the surface, very similar to the way disease spreads throughout the body. Through layering, pouring, and live growing organisms I strive to create a sense of chaos and fluidity, but also confinement and captivity. The concepts addressed in my works are ongoing, experimental, and continually arrived at through simple, visceral experience.
The exhibition runs December 1-16, 2012.
Opening reception: Saturday, Decemeber 1, 6-8pm.
Please come check it out!
