Friday July 18th 2008

 

"Classic toys, video games, and other childhood characters are brought to life in large scale acrylic and mixed media paintings. While nostalgic in their subject matter, these works have a contemporary sensibility achieved through their emphasis on design and composition. Often amusing, if not facetious, these images play on our memories of familiar objects and characters from a simpler time, bringing them out of context and blurring the line between design, illustration, story telling, and art." - Galerie La Petite Mort Gallery

 

When a single frame from an Archie comic is isolated from the context of its story, and blown up from its original Double Digest size, the exaggerated facial expressions of its characters and the authenticity of their simple words become the subject and mood of the painting. The basic composition and textual elements of the original comic frames are preserved, and complimented by the artist’s balance of recognizably mid-century modern and contemporary colour choices. The viewer begins to notice the clever approach of the comic artist – that every sentence ends in an exclamation point, that Betty and Veronica are identical twins with different hair, and that every SIGH!, GASP!, and GADZOOKS! conveys an instant understanding of emotion. The overall effect is an exaggeration of what comic book artists have done for decades – blurring the line between design and art to tell a story with simple, yet audacious imagery.

 

Contrast, colour, and texture are used to create depth and movement in the artist’s abstract works. Bright, sometimes glowing hues are balanced with deeper, yet no less vibrant colours to suggest multiple layers of activity and motion on the canvas. In the artist’s recent pieces, she creates texture by incorporating a variety of media and thickening agents with her preferred acrylic medium. The combined use of palette knives and dry and wet brushes allows for a controlled application of varying textures and finishes. In “Cyndi Lauper”, and “A Cherry on Top”, metallic leaf is used sparingly to simultaneously suggest a flickering lightness and a tangible material quality. Although these abstract works are visually captivating experiments in light and dark, movement and stillness, they possess a balance in composition through line and colour that thwarts the potential for unhinged disarrangement.

 

- Visit La Petite Mort Gallery