Gabrielle Anderman

Artist Statement

There is an energy that connects and moves through each of us — I paint to touch that energy and its universal truths. Lately, I’ve been exploring my experience of being a woman: in a female body, with its parts, its power, its subjugation, its resistance to the male gaze, its traumas and sexual assaults, and its refusal of objectification. I am also interested in death and transformation: both metaphorical and physical. I explore the moments in life where I've stood on the precipice of the unknown and allowed myself to experience what emerges—vulnerability, uncertainty, angst, bewilderment, and awe. I’m interested in our fragility – how no matter how much we seek safety and control, we are in constant flux, the ground collapsing under our feet. My influences include Cezanne, Egon Schiele, Phillip Guston, Allen Ginsberg, Wu Hsin, Kiki Smith, and Squeak Carnwath.

I work in both figuration and abstraction, using acrylic, oil stick, charcoal and colored pencil on heavyweight etching paper and canvas. My work ranges from large-scale paintings to small charcoal drawings. Rather than strive for realism, I work intuitively, surrendering to the page in the present. I focus on creating the visual equivalent to emotional and spiritual states, layering images, delving into the fantastical, and allowing figures to distort. I often work from live models but am also inspired by photographs, objects from nature and spiritual writings. I meditate daily before I enter the studio.

https://www.gabrielleanderman.com/

.