2020-2021, painting

Oil paint

A new interest in medieval/Early Modern history and dress spurred an interest in practicing painting in the styles of 12th-17th c European portraiture.

I’ve found some comfort in learning about the lives/aspirations/anxieties of people hundreds of years ago and how similarly they mirror our contemporary ones. The entry point here was the parallel of the impact pandemics have had on these time periods and the resultant hysteria (anxieties/resignations about the looming “end of time,” reactionary movements, the ways in which ruling institutions leveraged these disasters to exert control over people).

But I also believe that this artistic style is incredibly under appreciated in that its often viewed as “primitive” (for lack of a better term), where I believe the choices in representation are less about attempting (and failing to accomplish) realism and more about evoking the beliefs and ideals of the time. Also a lot of it is incredibly funny.