Alyssa Monks
Posted by Fabio 17 October 2011
Alyssa Monks’ paintings explore the tension between abstraction and realism, using different filters to visually distort and disintegrate the body. In this shallow painted space, the subject is pushing against our real space. Strokes of thick paint in delicate color relationships are pushed and pulled to imitate glass, steam, water and flesh.
“When I began painting the human body, I was obsessed with it and needed to create as much realism as possible. I chased realism until it began to unravel and deconstruct itself. Realism and Abstraction are in a symbiotic relationship – they need each other to exist and eventually become the same.”
Alyssa has been awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant for Painting three times and is a member of the New York Academy of Art’s Board of Trustees. She is currently represented by David Klein Gallery in Birmingham, Michigan. Alyssa currently lives and paints in Brooklyn, New York.
Features
-
A selection of paintings by Swedish-born artist Camilla Engstrom. -
citylikeyou: Interview with Tom Uferas - Paris-based creative director and graphic designer Tom Uferas spoke to us about design, creativity, and living and working in Paris. Plus a selection of his favourite places. -
"A woman is locked in her home with an egg" - A film by Italian film director and artist, Martina Scarpelli. -
citylikeyou: Interview with Paris based illustrators and graphic designers Jérémy Schneider and Violaine Orson, founders of the design studio, Violaine & Jérémy.