Featured Artists

October: PAFA Artists

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Aubrey Brown:  This year’s winner of the CX Carlson Summer Residency program

Give a brief description of your upcoming show. And what might have inspired it.
This is a collection of landscape paintings done during a Summer residency in southern Lancaster County. One of the things I was particularly concerned with in these pieces is really experiencing the moment in which I was painting, and capturing that experience in the image. I tried to bring out whatever it was about each scene that spoke to me at that particular moment and made me feel a deeper reality in it.
How have you expanded existing themes/ideas for which you are best known/or if this body of
work is a great deviation from your norm, what inspired this new approach?
 Although I have always had a great love of nature and have spent a great deal of time out of doors, this is the first time I have done extensive landscape painting.
 I often work primarily from memory and imagination, drawing inspiration from mythology,
literature and music. Although many of the works in this show were done from direct observation, they still tap into the mythical realm in subtle ways, and seek to honor the spirits of the land and to depict what Odilon Redon called “a reality that is felt”.
Stylistically and/or technically, what do you hope collectors notice in your new work?
Since many of these are “plein air” paintings, done relatively fast and with a great deal of intensity, they tend to be a bit looser and brushier than some of my other work, although I have been exploring this approach in my studio work as well.
Add any additional info that might interest the viewer.
 I am particularly interested in illustration and narrative art, and this often comes through even in my non illustrative work, so some of these landscapes may feel like settings, or even characters, in a story.

 

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Melanie Dion

Give a brief description of your upcoming show. And what might have inspired it.

The work in this show is the result of asking myself what really interests me in painting. The majority of the work in this show is watercolor or watercolor mixed media. I began working in this medium because of its portability during a time where I was traveling frequently. The ability to have my studio with me wherever I am allows me to directly interact and respond to the world.

While doing these smaller paintings, I have found a responsiveness to  touch that I have not quite been able to achieve as successfully in oil. The small amount of binder in watercolor allows for the pigments to each have a unique character leading to less homogenous passages of paint. I find that letting the pigments misbehave and have their own personality celebrates painting in a way I have not experienced before.

By making the smaller observational paintings ( Gazebo, 2016; Miller, 2016) my quiver is refilled with ideas for larger studio paintings (land fishing, 2016; prismatic plume, 2016).

How have you expanded existing themes/ideas for which you are best known/or if this body of work is a great deviation from your norm, what inspired this new approach?

Previously I had been working in oil, followed by acrylic mixed media. The experience of doing and existing has really shaped the changes in my painting practice. The need for painting to seamlessly fit into my life has led to rethinking how I work. The desire to express what I see in the world overcame the prestige of oil studio painting and has been leading the way to watercolor.

Stylistically and/or technically, what do you hope collectors notice in your new work?

I hope collectors will see a unique and innovative use of a long under-appreciated medium.

Add any additional info that might interest the viewer.

While at a residency at the Golden Foundation for the Arts I worked on a process of varnishing watercolor. This opens up new possible applications for watercolor as the paintings no longer need to be presented under glass and are protected from damage and fading from harmful uv rays or environmental damage.

 

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Yeon Kang

Give a brief description of your upcoming show. And what might have inspired it.

My upcoming show is based off of the beauty that’s around me. I was able to pick one scene or object and really focus much of my energy and concentration on it. Being able to pick something beautiful and really go-indepth into it is what brings me joy while painting.

How have you expanded existing themes/ideas for which you are best known/or if this body of work is a great deviation from your norm, what inspired this new approach?

This is a similar theme to what my works are best known for. I have just appreciated being able to really focus on creating a set of 7 pieces that flow together.

 Stylistically and/or technically, what do you hope collectors notice in your new work?

The story behind the colors, details, and intricacies.