Miss Tress

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on January 22, 2022 at 11:15am

Curator’s Comments:

 

Coming across Miss Tress in a random selection, I looked back through your other paintings on the site and remembered admiring your more representational portraits.  It strikes me that your images represent two distinctly separate signature styles. While some of the more realistic, tightly cropped portraits contain very subtle elements of caricature, Miss Tress and others in your Miss America series delight in the absurdity of extreme feminine features.  The compartmentalized sections of the painting highlighting oversized eyes and a mouth also curiously reflect different skin tones.  It’s as if she’s a gestalt of every Miss America. While the painting medium is specified as acrylic on board, the edges of the shapes containing Miss Tress’ face suggest torn pages of a magazine. Perhaps this is also a commentary on how pageant contestants mirror attitudes towards beauty, and sexuality with her tongue extended provocatively over her lips, in print media.  The violet shadows streaked through the contestant’s hair keeps the piece visually dynamic, as they move the viewer through the work.  It’s an interesting piece- as the right eye staring back at the viewer is just enough to convey a slight tinge of discomfort in our staring.