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The origins of these paintings began with my black and white “Nowhere” paintings, which depicted the lonely haunted backwoods in a non-specific time and place. I have always been heavily influenced by black and white horror movies, which presented a subtle yet palatable vision of anxiety and suspense. The environment itself is culled from such disparate sources as theatre backdrops and childhood dioramas to create imaginary spaces that are simultaneously recognizable yet suggest unreal realms. |
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Adela Leibowitz
The origins of these paintings began with my black and white “Nowhere” paintings, which depicted the lonely haunted backwoods in a non-specific time and place. I have always been heavily influenced by black and white horror movies, which presented a subtle yet palatable vision of anxiety and suspense. The environment itself is culled from such disparate sources as theatre backdrops and childhood dioramas to create imaginary spaces that are simultaneously recognizable yet suggest unreal realms.
The blue was a natural progression from there as I felt the need to add children to that sparse landscape yet keep a dreamlike state in which a myriad of scenes expressing different moral tales could unfold. Personally, I am obsessed with didactic tales of morality, from Grimm’s fairy tales to the bible. Each painting does have a tale in it and fuses mythology, bizarre legends and epic tales that have been passed down through the ages alongside my own observations of people and ensuing psychological dramas. All levels of relationships are encapsulated, from the personal to the political. The little girl is a conduit for investigating gender taboos, power dynamics, anxieties, fears and nightmares.
The paintings look like haunted turn-of-the-century Viennese dreamscapes. They are as lovely and as dark as traditional European fairy tales. The pretty little girls are alone in the woods. It is twilight and darkness fast approaches. The paintings resonate with an ominous Gothic tone. Something bad has happened or will very soon. There are no grown-ups around to shield the girls from whatever danger may lurk. But, although their situation may be vulnerable, they are not afraid.
The nuanced rendering of expression and pose infuse the girl children instead with a strong and complicated intelligence that verges on the malevolent. Despite their sweet baby-fat gentility and the nicety of their schoolgirl frocks, they feel deeply in touch with an innate lust for cruelty. The little lambs prostrate at the feet of one little miss may be sleeping or dead. You don’t know and I’m not telling. It is a secret treasure. In another canvas, seated twins exchange a knowing look and one fears for the well-being of the bunny that scampers in the distance.
One is reminded of the wicked peeps in the 1960 horror classic Village of the Damned, which along with other films from the genre is a prime inspiration for me. In the service of suspense, I flesh out the volumes of the little bodies and heads in the muted blue shadows of encroaching night, while the details of the surrounding forest are lost in the flattening, almost lyrical B-film bleaches of the departing sun. Your eyes cannot see the menacing lurker I tease you to imagine. Perhaps there is none.
I received my BA from F.I.T. College and my Masters of Fine Arts from the New York Academy of Art (2000). My first solo gallery exhibition, “Nowhere,” was presented at OK Harris Gallery (2003). My second solo exhibition, “Fairytales of the Macabre,” was presented at Jack the Pelican (2004). I have also been included in exhibitions at Miami university, Jack the pelican Presents, DFN Gallery, HPGRP Gallery, Dabora Gallery, Artists Space, Scope Miami Art Fair, Nova Young Art Fair (Chicago), Kunst 2005 Zurich (Switzerland), Kashya Hildebrand Gallery and the Jenkins Johnson Gallery. My work was awarded critics choice in the Village Voice and reviewed in NY Arts Magazine. I have also been awarded grants from the Vogelstein foundation, Deming foundation, E.D. Foundation and the Sugarman Foundation. Also, I was an artist-in-residence at the Millay Colony. My next solo exhibition will be held at HPGRP Gallery (Summer 2006) and Gallery10G (Spring 2007).
