|
|
|
oil paintings
Donna Jean Safford
29 Main Gallery
PO Box 808
Derby Line, VT 05830
phone: 802.873.3228
email: dsafford@pshift.net |

'Pearls'
24 x 24", $2000 |
|
Most of my recent work deals with appropriation. I borrow freely
from the annals of art history, portraying some iconic and lesser known figures
and placing them into contemporary environments and fashion. Some of these
juxtapositions end up humourous. Generally I am seeking an element of surprise or
delayed recognition, an ah ha!, an old friend in a crowd, as it were.
In the painting's imagery and as an agent of change, the raven acts as my
accomplice and my alter ego. About influences, one artist said, 'We all stand
on the shoulders of someone who came before. No one falls out of the sky.'
I work predominantly in oils, however the most recent work incorporates
collage as an underlayer. The mechanical nature of printed papers and photography
adds an element of surface design to interact with the handmade quality of
brushstrokes and paint. I like the new dimension that texture and pattern
from found materials adds to my paintings. It is not a new technique.
Picasso and Braque explored it and Rauschenberg made it his own.
Experimentation and discovery are the fuel of my artistic life and making
art is that life.
I have a BFA from the University of Hartford, show my work in various
Vermont galleries, as well as at fairs like the Wickford and Artrider festivals
and the Paradise City shows.
|
|