Neighborhood Girl

Can a dark lonely painting be beautiful? Neighborhood Girl is in ways a lonely picture: who is this girl who stands frozen on the sidewalk -- who is she and what is she waiting for? The strong pull of the space beside her, through this sidewalk that yanks us into the deep space of the picture, seems to allude to her past and future. A large house just visible above some trees roots her and helps keep her from being drawn backwards into whatever it is that pulls so insistently. Her stance, awkward and hesitant, perhaps echos her thoughts as she balances between stasis and movement.

A severe leafless tree contrasts with the girl who is coatless. It seems to be a first warm day heralding spring rather than the last warmth of autumn. Something in the painting's dark tonality is more bright and hopeful than otherwise.

The near monochrome makes playful use of trace color in this image which has its source in an anonymous black and white photograph from the late 40s or early 1950s. The play of colors in reduction is most noticable around the girl's feet where the colors are allowed to vary in ways that question the relationships between figure and ground. As a consequence the girl appears "cut-out" from her background, adding another element to the psychological dimensions of the story.

The artist enjoys making playful homage to contemporary artists she admires. This painting echos somewhat the coloration of Uraguayan painter Ignatio Iturria whose paintings the artist saw on exhibit in the late 80s.