Samantha Van Heest

«Meet the Queen» Still Life Oil Painting by Samantha Van Heest

2019

Imported Goods is an exploration of environment, especially focusing on the wellness of the ocean and the consequences of human plastic consumption. There is beauty in appreciation and replication, but it becomes a tragedy when it fully devours natural creation. Samantha Van Heest...

Pull Shapes (Duet) is a diptych that subtly explores surrealism, focusing in on the intimacy of the bedroom space. Pillows are this central point of comfort in our day to day, and the artist wanted to play with scale, mystery, and the night table drawer. Samantha Van Heest...

Collection of an array of items that epitomize beauty, this still life painting celebrates romance and joie de vivre, by Elizabeth Barlow, who meticulously creates oil "portraits" th...

Intimate paintings represented by unmade beds and tossed sheets, absent of any human evidence, on intentionally blank, somewhat rough backgrounds. The empty bed in these paintings represents a place for grief, isolation or healing. As such, the work speaks to our shared feeling of grief, with the understanding that while we all suffer in our individual ways, suffering is universal. Source material for this work are photographs the artist has both taken and found, and the intimate size of the paintings references the intimate nature of the subject matter. The backgrounds of the paintings are repeatedly painted and sanded, to create a frame and backdrop for the bedding that is flat, yet rough with work and time. The bedding itself is seen from different perspectives, but still indicates a scene of desolation and despair. While the series began in the fall of 2016, recent events—including the pandemic—have provided a new dimension to the work and have compelled Serpick to consider the themes in light of these events. Our forced isolation and the challenges it has brought to our physical and mental health provides an additional shared experience from which to consider grief and eventual healing. Biography Stephanie Serpick is a painter whose work explores themes of isolation, grief, and healing. Her work has been shown in various exhibitions in the U.S. and internationally, and she is a fellow at several residencies, most notably at the Florence Trust Studios in London, MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, and the Vermont Studio Center, where she was awarded a full fellowship and stipend to attend. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at Sweet Lorraine Gallery in Brooklyn, the College of Southern Nevada, and a two-person exhibition at The Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute at the Museum of Art at Pratt in Utica NY...