Date of Award
Spring 5-30-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Painting
First Advisor
Kevin Zucker
Second Advisor
Kristina Lee
Third Advisor
Roger White
Abstract
I am a painter-printmaker-embellisher. The hierarchy of these labels shift to best suit the needs of each piece. Making an image that encourages looking takes precedent over how it is labeled. A quickly read painting is the enemy. I weave together complex passages on the surface to function as a speed bump, to slow down the viewer’s navigation of my paintings. I value color, pattern, and texture above a narrative. Borrowing the palette of Florine Stettheimer and the repetitive touch of Edouard Vuillard, my paintings teeter dangerously between being about the idea of decoration and being decorative. Domesticity, femininity, and craft propel my material explorations to harness the power of their associations.
My paintings dwell in the shallow threads of fabric. They seem simple to make, until one attempts to unravel them. I think of my paintings as screens, allowing air to flow freely through the interlocked layers. I leave space for air to get through, as it is the only relief in otherwise claustrophobic paintings. Combinations of dyed fabric, screen printed ink and flock overcrowd my worlds. Saturated color and patterning unify the distinctive techniques.
With the help of Google, I construct imagined scenes of various tasks being performed on loop. I am using my painting’s inhabitants to create patterns. The events I depict take place in utopian environments. An idyllic paradise is not normally considered burdensome, until one is forced to relive it endlessly. The repetition of the figures functions optically first and psychologically second. First impressions are not always accurate.
Recommended Citation
King, Elizabeth, "From Florine to flocking : observations of a painter - printmaker - embellisher" (2017). Masters Theses. 158.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/158
Creative Commons License
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