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BIO Ingrid V. Wells earned her MFA from San Francisco Art Institute and her BFA from Arizona State University. Her work fancies the fantastic and humorous in theme and the charming, the kitschy, and the celebrity in subject. Wells's paintings investigate the world of gendered consumerism and the ethics of fascination. Her work has been featured in The Huffington Post, Daily Mail, BUST Magazine, and Teen Vogue, among others. She is the studio manager for SF Artists Studios, founded TWIRL: A Decade of Artist Interviews and enjoys teaching with San Francisco Art Institute's Public Education program. Wells currently lives and works in San Francisco and has been a member of SF Artists Studios since 2013. ingridvwells.com @ingridvwells |
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STATEMENT
My oil paintings reflect the feminine spectacle. The over-the-top, sparkling works deliver a feminist message, celebrating the hilarity and ridiculousness of growing up female in America. Pageantry and fanfare often find themselves in my work.
Here is the beginning of my new series Spectacle, comprised of 20 paintings that will be complete at the end of 2019. In this new series, the paintings reflect miniature plasticine trinkets from girlhood, painted as shiny still lives and inflated to grand proportions. The images provoke a bizarre, almost suffocating encounter between viewer and the enlarged, gendered objects. These silly still lives are depicted in variations of luscious pinks and reds across the canvas. Working in oil lends a genuine quality to the images, giving way to the rich nature of the swirled frosting and brightly colored plastic objects. Taken individually the trifles are simply cute bunnies, stars, adorable pandas, scrumptious cupcakes, Hello Kitties and shiny bows. Yet clustered into a candied extravaganza, the image’s complexity deepens and the sugary mass of artificial happiness overwhelms.
This line of inquiry speaks to the pressure of maintaining the ideal woman’s voice as charming, precious, and small. Each painting is a loud parade of honeyed, traditional feminine qualities. Together this series aims to provide a place of reflection, asks you to question your rose-colored glasses, and ultimately works to dismantle the patriarchy (in the sweetest way possible).
My oil paintings reflect the feminine spectacle. The over-the-top, sparkling works deliver a feminist message, celebrating the hilarity and ridiculousness of growing up female in America. Pageantry and fanfare often find themselves in my work.
Here is the beginning of my new series Spectacle, comprised of 20 paintings that will be complete at the end of 2019. In this new series, the paintings reflect miniature plasticine trinkets from girlhood, painted as shiny still lives and inflated to grand proportions. The images provoke a bizarre, almost suffocating encounter between viewer and the enlarged, gendered objects. These silly still lives are depicted in variations of luscious pinks and reds across the canvas. Working in oil lends a genuine quality to the images, giving way to the rich nature of the swirled frosting and brightly colored plastic objects. Taken individually the trifles are simply cute bunnies, stars, adorable pandas, scrumptious cupcakes, Hello Kitties and shiny bows. Yet clustered into a candied extravaganza, the image’s complexity deepens and the sugary mass of artificial happiness overwhelms.
This line of inquiry speaks to the pressure of maintaining the ideal woman’s voice as charming, precious, and small. Each painting is a loud parade of honeyed, traditional feminine qualities. Together this series aims to provide a place of reflection, asks you to question your rose-colored glasses, and ultimately works to dismantle the patriarchy (in the sweetest way possible).
