Realism is coming back! Lost to decades of abstract art, contemporary figurative painting is experiencing a rebirth in a variety of styles. Contemporary figurative artists are becoming more popular among the gallerists and collectors alike, and with that the female artists rise and take part in more art shows than ever. Let’s look at the roundup ofsome female painters who continue the tradition of classical painting, yet are subjected to modern times and revelations.
Every artist wants to achieve a unique voice in art that becomes a record of emotions, experiences and history. Many are influenced by baroque painting, wish to find purpose or to depict the duality in everyday life. Yet, the approaches to painting are vastly different. In this interview every painter answers a single question. What they want others to see in their art. Let’s look at their answers!
(Please note that all artwork is copyrighted by these female artists painters. Contact them directly. In the following posts I’d be adding more representational artists to this colorful array of contemporary women artists).
You will find this article about famous contemporary women artists in the American Art Collector, March issue, 2018
Margo Selski
By using a safe and familiar composition, my goal is to lull the viewer into a false sense of comfort and familiarity, where they are drawn to images which, upon further viewing, become curious, uncomfortable and perhaps even dangerous.
Margo Selski creates a fairy tale universe depicting her family secrets in the surreal paintings. These are tightly balanced, emotional riddles often starring her children dressed in elaborate clothing. While the narratives seem fantastical, they are autobiographical since every artist depicts parts of herself in art. Every painting shows duality that creates tension. Every painting is a world of fragile self-exploration and heightened emotions. There is a sense of passing time that flows through fantasy that becomes a hidden reality. Influenced by Flemish painting, the artist also plays with the medium, creating false craquelure where lines look like cracks in old paint.
Artist’s talk://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gw0m7VAl4Hs
Anne-Marie Kornachuk
I want people to see a real figure, in a moment of intimacy, surrounded by the abstracted beauty of the fabric.
Canadian artist Anne-Marie Kornachuk paints women in swirling gowns where colorful fabric shimmers around the figure to seduce us with visual beauty. Influenced by Baroque painting, the artist creates a dynamic flow between the silky fabric and dark background. Her female figures seem to be confined within the boundaries of canvas, yet they are free to jump, making beautiful patterns of light and dark.
The artist’s striking paintings and oil painting techniques are featured in the art inspiration book titled
To learn more://www.annemariekornachuk.com/
(Video) Veronica Winters paintings | contemporary artist interview on inspiration & techniques
Roos van der Vliet
What I want to happen between a viewer and my work is not really up to me. It is something personal between the two of them, it goes beyond me. I do tend to influence this moment of course by always trying to let my portraits stare directly at the viewer, by letting them tell a non verbal story, solely by their eyes. It can’t be heard but you can sense some of it by watching them closely. People often walk by art without really looking. I hope that my paintings almost force the viewer to stand still and look back.
Female artist painter from the Netherlands, Roos creates realistic portraits of women with soulful eyes who are also constricted by their own hair. The enigmatic gaze of every Storyteller acrylic painting almost forces us to stare back at the model. Just like in the Margo Selski’s paintings, we can sense polar duality in the images. It’s a mental struggle between the invisibility and popularity, the known and unknown, the outer appearance and inner world. Interested in representing the world realistically, Roos makes every effort to depict the soft flow of hair and the honesty in the model’s eyes as human as possible.
//www.roosvandervliet.nl/
Kelsey Beckett
Kelsey Beckett is an upcoming, talented artist-illustrator who stylizes the female form to reveal romantic fragility in her contemporary figurative painting. Influenced by Manga, her oil and acrylic paintings are beautiful expressions of color, form and composition.
//kelseybeckett.com/
Yuka Sakuma
Yuka utilizes traditional materials like natural mineral pigments and Japanese ink to create paintings of women in Japanese style. To be more precise, these are artworks of beautiful, little girls that project innocence, playfulness and immaturity that usually gets lost with age. The artist creates a world of innocent childhood in her drawings where images of little girls often express emotional duality. Yuka is one ofcontemporary female painters who utilizes muted palette and flowing hair to express ethereal feelings.
Follow://www.instagram.com/sakuma.yuka/
Marina Dieul
I want others to see“joy” in my art. Joy of creating, joy of seeing beauty in little things, joy of inventing possible stories and meanings…It looks like people can feel it, I have an endless number of testimonies from collectors and followers saying that my art make them smile.
Marina Dieul was born in France but moved to Montreal, Canada almost two decades ago where she paints playful images of cats, mice and other animals. Her trompe l’oeil paintings express curiosity and amusement and we can’t help it but smile looking at paintings of cats chasing mice. Marina’s dramatically lit portrait paintings often depict children that give us a sense of wonder and innocence as well as show incredible artistic skill. The female artistwon many prestigious awards with her figurative paintings. To learn more: www.marinadieul.com
Kei Meguro
Japanese female artist, Kei Meguro creates pencil drawings of women she calls ‘babes.’ A lot of them are drawn from famous models or celebrities but exemplify her unique style that’s influenced by traditional Japanese art. The simplification of form and a near absence of any color are balanced with incredible details in the eyes and hair. The artist’s anatomical accuracy as well as fragility of the faces mesmerizes viewers. Unlike other contemporary female artists painters, Kei processes her drawings in Photoshop, cleaning up the smudges and adding layers of textures and color.
The artist graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York where she developed her illustrative style and now works for major fashion and design companies. To learn more://keimeguro.com/
June Stratton
My paintings are imagined blends of beauty and nature. These paintings are often intentionally idealized representations of emotional impressions from my dreams – entwined with elements of the earth, sky and water that surround my real world. I use symbols and my feminine viewpoint to tell a very loose, abstracted narrative. As in my dreams, my muses cannot see all things, are sometimes unable to speak and frequently appear to be floating.
(Video) Oil painting techniques: realistic still life painting techniques and painting textures
June Stratton’s art is ethereal. These are paintings of young women depicted in soft hues of blue and silver that resemble water. While not always anatomically correct, her beautiful figurative paintings project magic and fragility. These paintings are visual stories where figures melt into the background only to reappear in a new dimension. The silver-leafed fractions add specks of light to her images.Connect: www.junestratton.com
Audrey Kawasaki
The girls/women I paint are fictitious characters. They are all a manifestation of this one imagined person.Through her, I’d like the viewers to feel her confidence, strength, and independence. But she is also fragile and vulnerable and has all the weaknesses we all have. I like to play with that juxtaposition and balance. Things are never black and white.There’s a whole array of greys in between, and I like to explore that complexity.
Audrey Kawasaki’s figurative paintings are beautiful renderings of female form and landscape. Art-Nouveau-elegant, sensual curves flow one into another to depict innocence and eroticism, seductiveness and melancholy, passion and coolness.Her use of patterns and shapes is reminiscent of Gustav Klimt, while manga-influenced figures show beautiful renderings of women who live in a magical universe.
To learn more: //www.audrey-kawasaki.com/
Mary Jane Ansell
Based in the U.K., Mary Jane works on hyper-realistic paintings of women that look fashionable and modern, yet fall back onto classical ideals in portraiture. These are figures lost in quietness and self-reflection. Mary Jane paints indirectly, meaning that the artist layers paint to achieve gradual likeness, depth and detail. Her female figures have luminosity and rich subtlety in skin tones pared with some simplification in clothing and background space.
The artist exhibits internationally. To learn more://maryjaneansell.com/
Teresa Oaxaca
I would like for viewers to get more interested in learning about aesthetics.
(Video) Spiritual Art Painting: Astral Dream oil painting | Surreal Art Time Lapse
Dolls, dolls, dolls! A beautiful obsession, a dream, a collision of past and present. The Washington D.C. based artist Teresa Oaxaca creates large paintings that inherit the exuberance of theBaroque and Rococo periods. Her oil paintings become records of lush compositions withclowns, women, fabric, and dolls reminiscent of rich artistic history, especially Italy. Classically trained atthe Florence Academy in Italy, the female artist mesmerizes us with her skillful drawings and vivid oil paintings that depict figures talking, crying or smiling at us. Dressed like a beautiful doll herself, Theresa embodies her paintings visually during the artist receptions and workshops held internationally.
To learn more://www.teresaoaxaca.com/
Anna Wypych
What intrigues me the most is inner strength. My main goal is to make people – viewers of my works, feel and see their own inner strength.
Anna Wypych is a Polish figurative realism artist who paints women as allegories of human condition. Sensitive to her environment, she employs gentle color palette to convey her thoughts and psychology of people around her with undeniable sincerity. Sometimes she paints multiple figures in a single painting like in a photography that dance, jump or interact with each other. Semi-nude figures seem to be variations of one person that moves across space.
To learn more://annawypych.pl/
Julie Heffernan
Julie Heffernan’s imaginative painting is a mix of history, allegory, figurative and still life – all combined in numerous self-portraits. Presented as a tall, skinny, half-nude woman in the elaborate skirts or without them, she is surrounded by the forest, animals or shiny palace rooms. Her most recent artwork-magical landscapes addresses the climate change and how humanity slowly kills the planet that’s different in mission from her older artwork.
//www.julieheffernan.net/statement
Katherine Stone
When I look at my favorite artists (or read my favorite authors, or listen to my favorite musicians), what appeals to me is that they have created a little universe with its own laws of aesthetics, its own language, its own habits and forms. The artists have plunged deeply into their vision. So I guess what I want people to see when they look at my art is a recognizable voice.
Katherine Stone is a Canadian realist artist who paints children and still lifes. In her figurative paintings you won’t find excessive cuteness or sweetness usually captured in children. We rather see peaceful and subdued colors with a careful observation of light. A truly amazing craftsman, the artist often uses dramatic light (chiaroscuro), glazes and other traditional painting techniques to convey realism. Her still life paintings are often symbolic of life and death, and the irreversible passing of time.
In this painting we look at a portrait of Maddie, Katherine’s visual inspiration and model since her cousin’s daughter was a toddler. The artist’s literal inspiration for the painting comes from the Emily Dickinson poem. Soon we see how both the artist and the poet become sensitive to a short presence of daylight in winter.
Connect://www.katestoneart.com/
Kerry Simmons
When people look at my art, I’d like them to see beauty, to experience the work as something that enhances and adds to life’s experience.
(Video) Oil painting time lapse, surreal art oil painting
Kerry Simmons is one of few female artists painters who works and illustrates in colored pencil, pencil or oil paint, living and working in New York. Some of her drawings depict women as allegories, or the Barbie dolls that evoke a sense of melancholia, isolation and abandonment. They are intense self-portraits even when the physical model is different from the artist but somehow carries the resemblance to Kerry’s beautiful face. A very talented figurative painter, her paintings are heavy with quietness and mystery.
To learn more://www.kerrysimmonsart.com/
Tanja Gant
I’m hoping that when people look at my work they see beyond the technical part. Sometimes my portraits are “snapshots” of people I’ve met and who have inspired me and other times my work tells a deeper, personal story. I would like my work to leave an impression and make people question the reasons behind each drawing.
Tanja is an amazing talent. Self-taught, her colored pencil drawings is not a plain exercise in skill, rather an amazing ability to capture every person’s character from a unique vantage point. She often draws her family members and weaves her personal experiences into her colored pencil drawings. The artist makes work that encourages asking questions.You can marvel at her drawings here://www.tanjagant.com/
She is also one of the artists explaining her techniques at
Victoria Herrera
I strive to serve as a reminder to the viewer of the beauty that exists in nature, which we often take for granted. Also, the piece should serve as a vehicle for the viewer to pause, observe and find solace in it.
Victoria Herrera is one offemale artists’ painters who creates large-scale artwork to entice the viewer to pause, step in, and to self-reflect on the emotions and the meaning of life. Every new oil painting is a masterful fit in capturing gentle yet seductive petals with high-contrast design and a controlled color palette. The artist often incorporates semitransparent shapes and circles into the backgrounds as a record of her near death experience. Her oil paintings of flowers serve as transformative experiences to capture simplicity, nature and God.
To learn more: www.victoriaherrerafineart.com
With such wonderful roundup of contemporary female painters American art scene is destined to flourishand thrive. Stay tuned for morecontemporary figurative artists to come!
To continue reading:
Contemporary Art History: contemporary art, learn what makes it great
King Woman art show in New York
(Video) Surreal Portrait Painting Tutorial time lapse & more: midnight dream oil painting on canvas
10 Contemporary Male Artists Painting Women
Figurative Realism at Miami Art Week 2017
FAQs
What mediums does Julie Mehretu use? ›
Julie Mehretu makes large-scale, gestural paintings that are built up through layers of acrylic paint on canvas overlaid with mark-making using pencil, pen, ink and thick streams of paint.
How does Julie Mehretu paint? ›
Mehretu's paintings are constructed through a labor-intensive additive process in which successive layers of lines and thick streams of paint are separated by coats of transparent acrylic.
How was Poussin influenced by Italian artists? ›
During his first years in Rome, Poussin sampled many different artistic styles, but he chose his influences carefully. He was clearly impressed by the paintings of the great Venetian colorist Titian (ca. 1485/90? –1576), as well as by the friezes he found on Greco-Roman tombs.
Why do people make art? ›
There are countless reasons that motivate the creation of art; some of them are making our surroundings more beautiful; creating records of a specific time, place, person or object; and expressing and communicating ideas. Art is inspiring and stimulating for the human mind.
What would be a good occasion to give a Biiga doll? ›
What would be a good occasion to give a biiga doll? When a child is born or someone is trying to have a baby.
Why is Julie Mehretu important? ›
In a moment when museum collections are trying to integrate more women and artists of color, Julie Mehretu represents a powerful symbol of progress, the rare example of a contemporary Black female painter who has already entered the canon.
What is the effect of the mixture of drawing painting and paper shapes in Julie Mehretu's back to Gondwanaland? ›
What is the effect of the mixture of drawing, painting, and paper shapes in Julie Mehretu's Back to Gondwanaland? The work seems to exist between the natural and the manufactured.
Who was Julie Mehretu influenced by? ›
Mehretu has drawn inspiration from the large-scale works of Jackson Pollock and Barnett Newman. One of the artist's most widely known works is the 80-foot-wide mural located in Goldman Sachs tower entitled Mural. It is visible from the street, and was commissioned by the banking firm in 2010.
When and where was mehretu born? ›
What does the word Poussin mean? ›
In Commonwealth countries, poussin (pronounced /ˈpuːsæn/ and less commonly called coquelet) is a butcher's term for a young chicken, less than 28 days old at slaughter and usually weighing 400–450 grams (14–16 oz) but not above 750 grams (26 oz).
What is Poussin describe his art? ›
The commissions Poussin received for modestly scaled paintings of religious, mythological, and historical subjects allowed him to develop his individual style in works such as The Death of Germanicus, The Massacre of the Innocents, and the first of his two series of the Seven Sacraments.
What was Poussins style? ›
Nicolas Poussin
What is your inspiration in doing your artwork? ›
Artists are inspired by many things. They may be inspired by nature, their surroundings, books they read, magazines, movies, television shows, music, travel, emotions, memories, their sketchbook, other artists and their artworks, and much more. The list of things which may inspire artists goes on and on.
How does art influence your life? ›
Art gives us meaning and helps us understand our world. Scientific studies have proven that art appreciation improves our quality of life and makes us feel good. When we create art, we elevate our mood, we improve our ability to problem solve, and open our minds to new ideas.
What is the purpose of art? ›
Art can uplift, provoke, soothe, entertain and educate us and is an important part of our lives. At its most profound level, it takes us from the everyday to a place of introspection and contemplation, to see the bigger picture of the human condition.
Why does the artist repeat the images in the background in the picture above? ›
Why does the artist repeat the images in the background in the picture above? To suggest the power of the image. Where is the above building located?
How does the artist create a cold feeling in the painting above? ›
Terms in this set (10)
How does the artist create a cold feeling in the paining above? He uses the whites of the paper to create snow, and creates crystalline fragments using overlapping planes.
How is death viewed in African culture Brainly? ›
Africans ordinarily do not encourage the contemplation of death or any discussion about their own or their loved ones' death. According to the African belief system, life does not end with death, but continues in another realm.
Why is Raymond Pettibon's no title not a single classified as a drawing and not a painting? ›
Why is Raymond Pettibon's No Title (Not a single...) classified as a drawing and not a painting? Line is mostly used. It is drawn on paper.
Where is Julie Mehretu from? ›
Julie Mehretu was born in 1970 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to an American mother and Ethiopian father. In 1977 she immigrated with her family to Michigan.
How did Christo and Jeanne Claude fund their large scale works of art? ›
As with past projects, Over The River would be financed entirely by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, through the sale of Christo's preparatory drawings, collages, scale models, and early works of the 1950s/1960s.
Which technique applies pigments combined with water to a damp lime plaster surface? ›
In buon (“true”) fresco, pigments mixed only in water are painted directly onto a freshly prepared layer of damp lime plaster.
What is one reason that cave painting have lasted so long? ›
The stable temperature and humidity in caves, a lack of human contact, and long-lasting painting materials have combined to allow many ancient cave paintings to survive in nearly pristine condition.
What kind of sculptures are meant to be viewed from all sides? ›
Sculpture that is meant to be viewed from all sides is called sculpture in the round, or freestanding. Sculpture that is not freestanding but projects from a background surface is called relief sculpture. There are four main ways to make sculpture: it can be carved, cast, modeled, or constructed.
Where did Julie Mehretu go to school? ›
Julie Mehretu
Where did Julie Mehretu live? ›
Who is Julie Mehretu married to? ›
Mehretu and her wife Jessica Rankin, also an artist, immersed themselves in the Berlin art scene. They have built a life in the place that Mehretu describes as “where time slows down.”
Is a poussin a baby chicken? ›
Poussin is a butchers term for a young chicken.
What does poussin 🅿 mean? ›
noun. a young chicken reared for eating.
What is baby chicken meat called? ›
Poussin (pronounced "poo-sehn") — A young chicken that is no older than 28 days when it is slaughtered. Sometimes called a spring chicken.
What type of painter was Poussin? ›
Nicolas Poussin
Who did Poussin influence? ›
Nicolas Poussin
What does the light do in the painting above quizlet? ›
What does the light do in the painting above? It creates a somber mood and unifies the work. 8.
What happened after the death of King Louis XIV that might have sparked the change in artistic style known as the Rococo? ›
After the death of Louis XIV, the French court moved from Versailles back to their old Parisian mansions, redecorating their homes using softer designs and more modest materials than that of the King's grand baroque style.
Which of the following is a characteristic of relief printing? ›
Which of the following is a characteristic of relief printing? Ink is applied to the raised surface of the plate and pressed to a surface to create an image. Which of the artists below created the type of painting known as a fête galante?
Who coined the term grand manner? ›
The term grand manner was given currency by Sir Joshua Reynolds and extensively discussed in his Discourses on Art – fifteen lectures delivered to students at Royal Academy between 1769 and 1790. Reynolds argued that painters should not slavishly copy nature but seek a generalised and ideal form.
How does the artist apply or use the elements and principles of art? ›
The principles of art represent how the artist uses the elements of art to create an effect and to help convey the artist's intent. The principles of art and design are balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, and unity/variety.
Where can one derive his her inspiration in making artwork? ›
Four Sources of Inspiration for Creating Art
- Ordinary Experience. Most of children's spontaneous drawing fall in this category, often including some aspects of #3 below.
- Natural and Constructed Environment. Observational work fall's in this category.
- Inner Feelings and Imagination. ...
- Quest for Order.
Why were portraits important in early history using key terms from the lesson describe the above self portrait by Rembrandt quizlet? ›
Why were portraits important in early history? Using key terms from the lesson, describe the above self-portrait by Rembrandt. Before photography and film, portraits provided a way to record a person's image. Rembrandt's self-portrait, or portrait of the painter himself, is a painting.
How does art make you feel? ›
Art gives a feeling of joy and boosts a good mood. Artwork fosters the feeling of relaxation, creativity, and inspiration. Any form of creativity can reduce the stress hormone cortisol and encourage the good hormones endorphins and dopamine in our brains.
Why painting is important in our life? ›
Over time, a painter's progress and skills deter negative emotions and provide pleasure and happiness for the individual. Painting boosts self-esteem and inspires people to reach new levels of skill. Painting also produces a relaxing, open environment where artists feel safe to explore their own creativity.
How does art give meaning to life? ›
Art gives us meaning and helps us understand our world. Scientific studies have proven that art appreciation improves our quality of life and makes us feel good. When we create art, we elevate our mood, we improve our ability to problem solve, and open our minds to new ideas.
What is art in your own words? ›
Art is a creative activity that expresses imaginative or technical skill. It produces a product, an object. Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, performing subjects, and expressing the author's imaginative mind. The product of art is called a work of art, for others to experience.
How did Christo and Jeanne Claude fund their large scale works of art? ›
As with past projects, Over The River would be financed entirely by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, through the sale of Christo's preparatory drawings, collages, scale models, and early works of the 1950s/1960s.
Where did Julie Mehretu go to school? ›
Julie Mehretu
Is Julie Mehretu married? ›
It was during this time that Mehretu married Australian artist Jessica Rankin, with whom she shares two children.
Where was Julie Mehretu born? ›
Julie Mehretu was born in 1970 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to an American mother and Ethiopian father. In 1977 she immigrated with her family to Michigan.
Why do you think the artist felt so strongly about the message of the piece above quizlet? ›
Why do you think the artist felt so strongly about the message of the piece above? He feels that in his community and in the general African American community, basketball has become a problem because children aren't getting an education. Where was the above piece permanently placed? It was never permanently placed.
What was the running fence trying to draw attention to? ›
Drawing attention to the ordinary and under-appreciated rural landscape, the fence inspired and provoked a different relationship with the land, emphasising an unrestrained imagination of possibility rather than the arbitrary nature of political and geographical boundaries, alluded to in its title.
What does installation mean in art? ›
Installation artworks (also sometimes described as 'environments') often occupy an entire room or gallery space that the spectator has to walk through in order to engage fully with the work of art.
Who was Julie Mehretu influenced by? ›
Mehretu has drawn inspiration from the large-scale works of Jackson Pollock and Barnett Newman. One of the artist's most widely known works is the 80-foot-wide mural located in Goldman Sachs tower entitled Mural. It is visible from the street, and was commissioned by the banking firm in 2010.
When and where was mehretu born? ›
Why is Raymond Pettibon's no title not a single classified as a drawing and not a painting? ›
Why is Raymond Pettibon's No Title (Not a single...) classified as a drawing and not a painting? Line is mostly used. It is drawn on paper.
Is Julie Mehretu African? ›
The daughter of an American Montessori School teacher and an Ethiopian college professor, Mehretu embodies multiple identities. She's Ethiopian-American.
Where did Julie Mehretu live? ›
Does Julie Mehretu have kids? ›
It is important to the artist to remain organized in her working practice, especially now, since she and Rankin have two children: Cade (born in 2005) and Haile (born in 2011).
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