fine art Archives - The Curated House

The Curated Collection | Karyn Lyons

There is always for me a quality of escape that I look for in fine art – a transcendence that carries me to a new place or experience I’ve never had, or returns me to a feeling or a memory I once knew. The truth is, it is rather rare to discover this kind of transcendence in still life, for me at least. And yet that is exactly what I find myself experiencing in the stunning work of Karyn Lyons.

Blurring the lines between photo-realism and interpretation, Lyons sweeps me away into a dream-like state with her paintings. I feel as though I have awoken at midnight and wandered out into a grove, or perhaps sat down at a table with my love to savour the succulent flavours of nature and fine wine – simple things and decadent things effortlessly married like fantasy-meets-real-life.

With obvious respect for the 400 year history of still life portraiture, Lyons reinterprets traditional motifs with a decidedly modern aesthetic, expressing them in quietly luminous, often monochromatic palettes that add a cinematic, mysterious quality and depth to her work.

Artist and essayist George Ferrandi says, “…in art, apples are almost always in some residual conversation with temptation – but Lyons makes broader use of them. Somehow, in their associations with fall and the end of summer, and in the presence of these ever-woolen skies, the apple tree carts with it a feeling of ‘after.’ Like the moon is on the wane. Like the honeymoon is over.”

Karyn’s background is also quite fascinating. Lyons is an art director in the fashion industry. She worked at Polo Ralph Lauren and J. Crew before returning to school in 2001 for graduate studies at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. After graduating in 2003, she spent a year working as a painter for Jeff Koons, where she worked on the Popeye series. Her first solo show was at the Sarah Bowen Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, in 2005. Since then, she has been in numerous group shows in the United States and abroad. She lives and works in New York City and Lima, Peru.

Lyons‘ latest work is currently on exhibition at MARCH in San Francisco through until November 23, 2013. The show includes 20 oil on canvas and oil on vellum paintings, sizes ranging between 3.5×3.5” to 44×60″. If you are in the area, I highly recommend making a point of stopping by for a visit.

MARCH

3075 Sacramento Street

San Francisco, CA

www.marchsf.com

Wishing you an inspired Monday!

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|September 30th, 2013|0 Comments

The Curated Collection | Claire Desjardins | The Evolution of a Painting

I have long been fascinated with process. Admiration quickly turns to curiosity for me, filled with a desire to understand the process that leads to the end product. This applies to countless forms – from furniture making to fashion to textiles to art. But perhaps nowhere is the mystery more mysterious to me than in the realm of fine art.

Even if we can see something of the process unfold, we can never understand it scientifically, for art is the laying down of an artist’s heart onto canvas or photograph or sculpture or print. An artist’s unique view to the world and their translation of it into a work of art is and always will be as one-of-a-kind as a thumbprint. Perhaps this is why my art addiction has such endless appetite.

“All of my work is an attempt

to decipher the chatter in my head,

to put forward a less awkward

side of myself, to navigate

through my everyday chaos

towards calm.”

– Claire Desjardins

Today’s inspiration is a voyeuristic entrée into the world of process, thanks to abstract painter Claire Desjardins. Her work entitled “Supersize” was the result of an unfettered month spent in artistic retreat at the Vermont Studio Center. Most gratefully, she documented the evolution of this massive piece.

The canvas is rolled out onto the floor to be cut.

An abstract road map is gesturally charted.

Bold and vibrant colour spaces are blocked out with great courage.

Daubs of paint are carefully placed into abstraction, a month-long labour of love and artistic vision.

“I poured each drop,

saturated puddle by puddle,

one at a time, layer upon layer,

to create a fizzy sensation for the viewer,

when standing in front of the work.

I used thick blends of mostly pure colours,

mixed with various polymer mediums,

in order to create a plastic feeling,

and one that makes you want to run your hand

over the smoothe lumps and bumps

that it caused across the giant sheet of canvas.

Thick texture is very important to me,

as is the shininess,

and of course,

the overall massive size.”

The finished piece, a constellation of colour and texture.

Claire Desjardins comes from a long line of artists and grew up in Montreal, Canada. She worked for many years as a graphic designer and was ensconced in a life of technology and marketing. In 2011, she gave up the regular pay cheque to pursue her love of painting.

Interestingly, Claire recently signed an agreement with Warner Brothers, who will be using several pieces of her art in their upcoming feature film, “Winter’s Tale” (scheduled to be released sometime in 2013).

Claire’s work can be found in both private and corporate collections around the world.

Wishing you an inspired Monday!

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|May 6th, 2013|2 Comments

The Curated Collection | Brent Boechler

I have long been an admirer of the work of abstract artist Brent Boechler. To describe the draw is to describe something altogether visceral. I simply connect with the work on an intuitive level – the colour, the composition, the juxtaposition of chance and intention.

Though not at all literal, there is something of the human connection implied in Boechler’s abstraction.

Perhaps it is the collision of chaos and beauty that speaks to me – a filtering of what is real into something conceptual and therefore more palatable in its limitations.

What is it about abstract art that speaks to you? Can you put words on it, or do the words feel rather like an ill-fitting dress put on a beautiful girl? That is how it is for me with Brent’s work, so I will stop stitching together the ill-fitting garment of sentences and instead wish you an inspired Monday, filled with beauty that cannot be put into words.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|April 22nd, 2013|0 Comments