Untitled (41), 2010
oil on linen
27.9 x 22.9 cm
image from: David Kordansky Gallery
I came across Lesley Vance's work a while ago. They are moody dark, velvety abstract compositions. Veils of paint are densely layered and appear to be applied in a variety of ways. They remind me of Caravaggio doing abstraction.
In her own words: My paintings originate from still lives of natural forms composed in the studio: I put together an arrangement of objects from my collection in a box where I control lighting by cutting openings for light to shine through. I'll paint this image, and once it reaches a certain point of resolution, the composition begins to evolve and I'm no longer looking at the source material. From there the the surface becomes a malleable space as the objects dissolve into pure form, although traces of the original image frequently remain in the finished work....
read more here about Vance's intelligent and intriguing process as well as her varied influences.
I love the process Vance uses and the results are gorgeous jewel-like paintings.
