Description of Work

Daphne - 2021 - Oil on canvas - Not for Sale

Arethusa - 2021 - Oil on canvas - Not for Sale

Cornix - 2021 - Oil on canvas - Not for Sale

Artist's Statement

In my work, I explore the idea of metamorphosis through paint.  I am interested in telling the stories of female mythological figures from Ovid’s poem Metamorphoses who endure transformations of some kind.  Through the experience of painting narratives in which the human body changes into object or animal, the process of painting the body and different natural materials has become the focus of my work.  It has even become more important than the stories on which the images are based.  The act of painting, in itself, is a process of transformation.  It involves the ambition to transform the substance of paint itself into a visual description of material, whether it is flesh or the bark of a tree.  I am interested in taking part in this process through the parallel narratives of mythology and in exploring this relationship between form and subject.  The question of realism is another aspect that I am exploring.  I am discovering that I cannot make my figures completely real because their state denies reality; they are impossible.  Despite the difficulty in achieving realism, I still seek to conjure the presence of a female who is solid, monumental, and who confronts the viewer.

I have chosen to work in oil paints on stretched canvas.  This format recalls works of the Renaissance and Italian Baroque that also deal with Classical imagery.  Classicism has always been grounded in the desire to describe the human body and painting has historically had the goal of imitating the natural world.  Creating works with these goals acknowledges works of the past and guides viewers to consider the history of painting and imagery.  By referencing these works of the past, I hope to insert my paintings into a dialogue with the historical goals of painting itself in even a small way.

If you wish to purchase any of these pieces, please contact the gallery director, Jacqueline Nathan (jnathan@bgsu.edu.)