Contributor post by
Lisa Solomon
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Laura,
2001, oil on canvas, 52" x 52" |
in my mind some of the best art is created via some form of obsessiveness.
andrea higgins' work is a perfect example of this. i first saw her work in 2003 at
sfmoma's SECA exhibition and was immediately hooked.
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detail of Laura |
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in my mind some of the best art is created via some form of obsessiveness.
andrea higgins' work is a perfect example of this. i first saw her work in 2003 at
sfmoma's SECA exhibition and was immediately hooked.
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Portrait of My Grandmother #2, 2000, oil on canvas, 52" x 40" |
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detail of above |
she started out meticulously painting textiles as
portraits of people she knew - or fabrics she remembered/where in her
life. the above is a depiction of her grandmother via a familiar
houndstooth plaid. i love the simplicity and depth of this idea. we all
know that what we wear says a lot about us. it can make or break an
impression, it can begin to tell people who and what we are and what we
believe in.
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Jackie (Mexico),
2002, oil on canvas, 24.5" x 21" |
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detail of above |
she then moved onto outfits from president's wives.
brilliant really. they are so scrutinized for their apparel. almost too
much hinges on what they wear: how they wear it, who designed it, what
color it was, whether or not it was appropriate for the occasion. i love
how "familiar" these feel. you recognize them as fabric, but then
realize they are painted. by hand - lines and dots repeated until they
form an abstract whole. i love that they are not in the shape of
clothes. that they are literally rectangles. reinforcing their
"painting-ness". of course jackie o get's more than one rendition:
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Jackie (Bogota),
2002, oil on canvas, 24.5" x 21" |
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detail of above |
currently she is working on portraits of characters
from literature. there's a great explanation of some of her work and
some passages of text that correspond on
her dealer's blog. she shows with
todd hosfelt in san francisco.
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Dorian, 2008, oil on canvas and panel, 28" x 36" |
i adore the conceptual nature of her work.
but ultimately i also love that these end up being very meditative and
luscious paintings. they are in a way paintings for painting's sake -
the texture and strokes so evident. i was a costume designer in another
life, so thinking about pattern and form and what clothing conveys is
also something that interests me, so i get a good dose of that in these
as well.
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andrea painting |
you can view a KQED piece on
"the president's wives"
series..... and which piece do i want for me? i thought at first one of
the jackie o pieces, but then ultimately? it has to be this one:
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Lady Bird,
2003, oil on canvas, 60" x 38.5" |
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detail of above |
i love the lemon yellow. i love that i can almost
picture what this 1960's dress would look like from this small snippet -
textured sateen maybe? empire waist? her hair perfectly coiffed. yes.
this one is for me.
thanks for playing along with me as my collection grows. you can follow it on
pinterest. till next time. happy almost fall !
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lisa solomon
is a mixed media artist who lives in oakland, CA with her
husband, young daughter, a one eyed pit bull, a french bulldog, a
cross-eyed cat, a 3 legged cat, and many many spools of thread.
she moonlights as a college professor, a graphic designer, and is
a partner in MODify/d a crafty biz that up/cycles and
re/purposes discards from the fashion industry.
2 comments:
I love this series so much. Not only do you find great artists that I haven't seen everywhere already, but you also do such a good job of describing the concepts. I feel like a student in your class. It's got so much more depth to it than the standard design blog "cute!" treatment.
maitreya - what a lovely lovely thing to hear. i'm touched and honored and want to thank you so much ! really makes my day
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