About
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I adore looking at paintings of people, primarily those in which the subject is gazing back at the viewer. They haunt me…in a good way. It does not matter to me whether it is a 'real' person, such as a portrait that 'looks just like cousin Lily'. Instead, what may draw me to linger in front of a figurative painting are the details and symbols that make it more alluring. Painting fictional people has been my choice of subject ever since I can remember. It is, to me, similar to writing a story.
People often refer to my artwork as 'the armless women'. There is reason to this. Art history feeds my imagination. The sculptor Auguste Rodin is a favorite influence in regard to many of his figures that were considered to be 'incomplete' because of a missing arm or head. The spatial power made by what he 'left off' created a completeness to which nothing could be added. The statue of Venus de Milo (artist unknown) is an even larger influence. The arms were broken and lost years before she was unearthed, but we still regard the beauty and gracefulness of this sculpture. This (among other details I will spare you for now) is what led me years ago to cut the arms off of four full-length paintings I was working on simultaneously. There was obvious beauty and grace without them. This simple action gave me much joy and freedom. Ever since, I toy with imagining other ways in which the arms could be attached, or just leave them off for the sake of design. This began a continuing series that I call the "Difficult Women"…difficult, because they are cleverly complicated along with their graceful beauty. Who wants to do what is expected of them all the time? That is what being 'Difficult" is all about. They are mostly women because painting women comes more naturally to me. Challenge wets my appetite, so I am slowly adding male figures of which I fondly call the "Impossible Men".
Besides missing arms or other features, my larger works rely on crudely cut canvas and black yarn stitching. When I manipulate a figure, the change has to be bold, not hidden. Therefore, a series of stitches may weave across a neck where a head has been replaced. In many cases, arms are replaced with, for example, the head of a duck…a tip of the hat to the naïve art of this world in which there are no 'rules', and things may or may not make sense. Everything comes together when backed with the neutral tones of burlap, a favorite element because of the rough grain against the smooth canvas.
Much of my smaller work is made with ceramic tile in whole or broken pieces firmly adhered to a framework ready to hang. These carry on the storyline as well, but in a brighter, more polished form.
The "Difficult Women: series is dedicated to the women of the world who are just a bit more complicated than the others…making everything more interesting.
--LiShinault
People often refer to my artwork as 'the armless women'. There is reason to this. Art history feeds my imagination. The sculptor Auguste Rodin is a favorite influence in regard to many of his figures that were considered to be 'incomplete' because of a missing arm or head. The spatial power made by what he 'left off' created a completeness to which nothing could be added. The statue of Venus de Milo (artist unknown) is an even larger influence. The arms were broken and lost years before she was unearthed, but we still regard the beauty and gracefulness of this sculpture. This (among other details I will spare you for now) is what led me years ago to cut the arms off of four full-length paintings I was working on simultaneously. There was obvious beauty and grace without them. This simple action gave me much joy and freedom. Ever since, I toy with imagining other ways in which the arms could be attached, or just leave them off for the sake of design. This began a continuing series that I call the "Difficult Women"…difficult, because they are cleverly complicated along with their graceful beauty. Who wants to do what is expected of them all the time? That is what being 'Difficult" is all about. They are mostly women because painting women comes more naturally to me. Challenge wets my appetite, so I am slowly adding male figures of which I fondly call the "Impossible Men".
Besides missing arms or other features, my larger works rely on crudely cut canvas and black yarn stitching. When I manipulate a figure, the change has to be bold, not hidden. Therefore, a series of stitches may weave across a neck where a head has been replaced. In many cases, arms are replaced with, for example, the head of a duck…a tip of the hat to the naïve art of this world in which there are no 'rules', and things may or may not make sense. Everything comes together when backed with the neutral tones of burlap, a favorite element because of the rough grain against the smooth canvas.
Much of my smaller work is made with ceramic tile in whole or broken pieces firmly adhered to a framework ready to hang. These carry on the storyline as well, but in a brighter, more polished form.
The "Difficult Women: series is dedicated to the women of the world who are just a bit more complicated than the others…making everything more interesting.
--LiShinault
