I frequently find myself searching for inspiration to get back to drawing the human form. These 20 female artists are a few of the voices that have spoken to me over this last year; their artwork navigates many things: our ultimate purpose, how we untangle our daily lives, and even simple stories of people from their own communities.
“I find it fascinating that the things our ancestors were most obsessed with are the same things we as so-called advanced scientific thinkers are still obsessed with: Who are we? Where do we come from? Why are we here? How was the universe made? The figures in my work operate as carriers of these musings.” – Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum – b. 1980, Mochudi, Botswana. Lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“I started incorporating the figure into my work as a way to navigate my own sense of identity, particularly because I came from a place that didn’t fit into one specific narrative. It was a way for me to untangle what I was going through on a daily basis.” – Firelei Baez – b. 1981, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, Lives and works in New York, New York.
“I am most interested in sharing sensitive, humanistic, and honest stories of my community.” – Jordan Casteel – b. 1989, Denver, Colorado. Lives and Works in New York, New York.
While I am still a student of the figure, I’m searching for what questions I might ask. What humanistic stories I might tell. What answers I might find to the universal questions of life. Regrettably, I cannot turn off the news or stop reading the papers.
Dreaming of colorful intent may be all I can do in this moment of extreme darkness.
TOPMOST Image: Christine Huskisson, Dreams of Drawing in Color, 48″x36″, 2017
