Stars under the border began with a simple image of people resting together in an open field, but that idea quickly expanded into something more complex, both visually and formally. I kept thinking about aspiration: how it persists beneath systems that try to define or limit us. The title suggests this tension. Stars suggest hope or possibilities existing in an endless veil of darkness, while a border implies a sense of limitation and separation.
Often I'm thinking about the problem of articulating a surface in such a way that it forces the eye to move over the painting in a particular way. The eye can get blocked at junctions: elbows, knees, ankles, etc. So I look for paths that run across the form in order to connect them. I often deviate from anatomical accuracy in order to generate compositional tension. There are also details that command the eye with psycho(sexual) compulsion: lips, ears, nipples, fingertips, eyes etc. I will use the bulges and indentations of musculature as an inflection point to modulate the impact of those signifiers.
He never painted from photographs, preferring to practice what he described in past interviews as "designing with reality." Working primarily in acrylic on canvas, he rendered his peers, family, and students with feverish realism. He painted artists in their studios, academic peers buried beneath paper and books at their desks, and actors bathed in the spotlight. Writing in the Star-Ledger in 2008, critic Dan Bischoff observed that "everything in a Leipzig is painted with an almost hallucinogenic intensity of detail, just as he sees it."
For me, blue is the color of gentle melancholy, profound calm, and also a hidden hope," Ciochinǎ says. Titles like "Don't Eclipse Me" and "You Are Your Own Home" tap into our deep-seated desire for connection and a sense of belonging. They also hint at the nature of individuality within the context of our relationships with others, navigated in a series of dreamy scenes.
Minami Kobayashi's figurative oil paintings and sculptures intertwine elements of intimacy and mystery, showcasing ordinary subjects with a surreal twist. Her work evokes a sense of the uncanny, engaging viewers with familiar yet disorienting imagery.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's exhibition, To Improvise A Mountain, invites audiences on a personal journey through art, merging her work with various historical and contemporary artists.
Anna Weyant's paintings display a wealth of artistic references from the Baroque to the early 20th century, showcasing a dialogue with the Thyssen collections.
