12
Contemporary
Women Artists
LEADING FIGURATIVE AND STILL LIFE PAINTERS
SHARE THEIR CREATIVE PROCESSES.
“ Women and plants are both at times
resilient, fragile, persistent and ephemeral.
They can fl ower in environments thought
to be otherwise inhospitable, and at the
same time taken for granted, cast aside
as unworthy. Each painting represents a
woman’s struggle with agency over her life.” “ This work is part of a series called In the Shower and
was inspired by a very stressful situation my family
faced in 2016, whereby a serious injustice happened
to our family. My response was to lash out, but I was
persuaded to take the high road. As Michelle Obama
says, ‘When they go low, you go high.’”Amanda Greive
Amanda Greive’s paintings channel feelings through
expressive female fi gures constricted by tape, fl owers
or butterfl ies. The artist captures gesture in women
using a restricted color palette to bring our attention
to blossoming fl owers that seem alive and capable
of engulfi ng the fi gures. They spring from backs
or cover up faces to reveal the tension and duality
women experience living in female bodies. Greive
uses emphatic gesture, fl owers and tape to record
this tension and to show the overgrowing plants as a
symbol of simultaneous fragility and perseverance.Requiem for the Obedient 2, oil on wood panel, 24 x 24"Sheryl Luxenburg
Canadian hyperrealist Sheryl Luxenburg works in
watercolor, airbrush and acrylic paint to depict women
in intense psychological states of confusion, dread,
confl ict, anger or numbness that often mirror the artist’s
past emotions. Her females are pressed against misted
glass or submerged in water to express a fatigued state
of mind we may experience in distress. The artist paints
every detail with extreme precision that plays with our
perception of reality. Luxenburg’s interest in the human
condition comes from her vast practice as a licensed
psychotherapist specializing in trauma and PTSD.The High Road, acrylic on linen, 31/ x 24"12
W
hen I mention that women are underrepresented in art galleries and museums, I often get
asked if women are really that good compared to male artists to receive equal attention
or gallery representation. It’s stunning that in this era we still have to deal with such biases
in our society. I hope to spotlight some contemporary female artists who paint with the same
passion, skill and vigor as male artists. Most of all, I wish to prove that gender shouldn’t defi ne
destiny as both sexes can create in peace with equal rights. These female artists introduce us
to raw emotion, color and light expressed in fi gurative and still life paintings. By reading their
stories here you can understand how individual and complex their emotional journeys are to
arrive at their present state of visual excellence in art.070 http://www.AmericanArtCollector.comBY VERONICA WINTERS