caitlynartist at Bluecanvas: The Artist Network

Name: Caitlyn Shea
Joined: October 05, 2011
Genre: Drawing, Mixed Media, Painting

About me

I am fascinated by the physicality of the human form and its fleeting nature. It amazes me to think that one day my flesh will cease to exist. At the same time, I often think about restrictions set up by having a human body. We are extremely vulnerable beings that cannot transcend being inside our solitary, isolated forms. The experience of being human is remarkable and complex. Humans, unlike other animals, have a lingering yearning to understand their existence and find a true purpose or meaning for life where there may or may not be one. We cannot inhabit the same space as other forms, and we are ultimately very conscious of being bound to our body. In my paintings, I am able to deconstruct and fragmentize flesh, therefore defying actual human physicality. Decomposition and breakdown are reappearing themes through out my work. Paint allows me to layer information and color in a way that is not possible in the physical world.

My paintings begin as abstract colors and marks. I then begin to suggest human and animal bodies by laying down gestural marks to allude to them. The humans and animals in my work are born from the subconscious and in response to what the painting needs to feel finished, rather than being referenced from photos or life. During this process, I will paint over some previously found figures with both translucent and opaque layers, deciding which lines should remain until the end of the painting, and which should be covered. My palette alludes to the alluring color of the natural world. By making these paintings large scale, I make meditations about decomposition and mortality inescapable. Ultimately, these paintings portray humanity in the vast abyss of nothingness, and humanities' fascination with long reflections on nothingness.

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