One of my all time favorite artists that I have been following for years is Audrey Kawasaki. This image is appealing to me because it transforms the seemingly grotesque into something attractive. Audrey uses animals, skeletons, flowers, insects, and other things to share the space with beautiful young girls (and sometimes young men) who are often nude and may or may not be missing limbs who may or may not be engaged in sexual activity. Her work appears to, at times, be tragic. No one smiles or gives any hint of joy. Its just raw lust or deadpan stares, maybe a slight curl to the lip as if they are smirking. They are haunting and all knowing and barely tangible figures that often fade into the wood panels they are painted on, but their surroundings and other objects in the painting are always clearly and completely designed. To look at more of her work she does have a website here:
Audrey Kawasaki
I love her work giving these contradictions of what is beautiful and nasty applied together brings out this aesthetic realism that we really wouldn't understand it being beautiful unless we see it drawn, in this case Audrey did. it kind of gives off this esoteric realm that draws you in.
ReplyDeleteThis piece is really fascinating. I felt so captivated by the expression on the woman's face, its hard to look away from. She has this expression that just says "don't mess with me". The surrounding bones and skull make her even more ominous looking.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find even more alluring than the art is the fact that it is painted on wood. The natural grain contrasts the rather cleanly presented figure. I really do love how Audrey let the grain show even through the figure. I think it gives the illustration quite an ethereal feel.
ReplyDeleteI've always admired Kawasaki not just for her subject matter, but her application and palette are amazing. To get such intensity from the serene and soft colors is incredible. Everything about creating her work has a soft feel, which lets the subject speak for itself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the attraction to the fact that she paints on wood. It's always nice to see artists working in different mediums on different surfaces. The wood is definitely very noticeable, but at the same time, it just works with the color palette used and the simplicity of the illustration. I also love the shading used. It adds a lot more depth to very blunt figures.
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