Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 9

Eleanor Aldrich
ZIG ZAG HAMMOCK - oil, enamel and silicone on canvas- pink, blue, tan texture

2020

About the Item

A feminine figure reclines in a pink and blue-strapped hammock. The figure sitting in the hammock is activated by Aldrich’s transformation of paint and silicone into layered, glistening, and oozing swaths of skin. The hammock, recalling the grid, works as a pattern trying to hold and contain the body resting inside it. -- Building on her previous show, Main Squeeze, which featured bodies pressing through the grid of lawn chairs, in “That Feeling When,” Aldrich expands the excess of materials to large figure paintings and small, overfilled sculptures. Aldrich uses thick materials that protrude from the surface, reminding the viewer that the paintings are not only physical objects in themselves, but also create the illusion of the picture. The work employs a risky excess of material that borders on uncontrollable; becoming metaphoric for barely controlled femininity, the attraction and repulsion of materialism, and the body pressing against constraints. The figures in the paintings are seen from behind or have turned away. The viewer is put in a place of questioning whether they are a voyeur or a co-viewer with the figure of something deeper in the picture plane. The full body paintings of young women based on Nancy Drew mystery book covers offer seductive form and richness, but on closer examination are a shell of hair and clothing. She seems to be both a knowing participant in the image; half posing for the viewer, and half involved with what is happening within the image. Like the paint that builds her she is part physical reality and part illusion. The campiness of the image becomes a cover and metaphor for real fear. The figures in the lawn chairs, hammocks, and the sculptural objects offer a protrusion of material that is at times satisfying, repulsive, and funny. The viewer is confronted with the social taboos of a body or substance that exceeds its bounds, meditations on the nature of reality and illusion, and a more acute awareness of the self as a viewer.
  • Creator:
    Eleanor Aldrich (American)
  • Creation Year:
    2020
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 30 in (76.2 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Framing:
    Framing Options Available
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Signal Mountain, TN
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU98517045832
More From This SellerView All
  • LAWN CHAIR ON THE BEACH - Textural Figure Painting with oil, enamel and silicone
    By Eleanor Aldrich
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    In the series of paintings titled “That Feeling When,” Aldrich expands the excess of materials to large figure paintings and small, overfilled sculptures. Aldrich uses thick materials that protrude from the surface, reminding the viewer that the paintings are not only physical objects in themselves, but also create the illusion of the picture. The work employs a risky excess of material that borders on uncontrollable; becoming metaphoric for barely controlled femininity, the attraction and repulsion of materialism, and the body pressing against constraints. The figures in the paintings are seen from behind or have turned away. The viewer is put in a place of questioning whether they are a voyeur or a co-viewer with the figure of something deeper in the picture plane. The full body paintings of young women based on Nancy Drew...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Mixed Media

    Materials

    Enamel

  • GIRL WITH SEAGULL TATTOO - abstract figurative, textured painting/mixed media
    By Eleanor Aldrich
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    "Girl with Seagull Tattoo" uses caulking to create the texture of lace as the prominent physicality of the clothing is juxtaposed against a background of browns and pastels. The figu...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Enamel

  • FAT BACK - Contemporary Figurative/Abstract Oil Painting, texture, mixed media
    By Eleanor Aldrich
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    FAT BACK is part of the latest on-going series from Eleanor Aldrich. These "behind the lawn chair" vantage points provide Aldrich with the perfect subject matter to convey her mixed media approach. More info below: Eleanor Aldrich was born in Springerville, Arizona. A participant at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, she also holds an MFA in Painting & Drawing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she currently lives. She earned her BFA in Painting & Drawing through the Academie Minerva (Groningen, the Netherlands) and Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. She was a participant in the Drawing Center’s first Open Sessions. Eleanor has had solo shows in Boston, Nashville, Knoxville, Flagstaff, AZ, and at the University of Alabama. Her work has been shown at Saltworks Gallery (Atlanta, GA), the Drawing Center (New York, NY), Grin (Providence, RI) and Ortega y Gasset (New York, NY). Her work was chosen for 1708 Gallery’s ‘FEED 2013’ (Richmond, VA). She has been awarded an Endowment for the Arts through the Whiteman Foundation, and the Herman E. Spivey Fellowship. Her work has been included in New American Paintings and on Artforum. Aldrich's work is textural and alchemical; she matches materials – often industrial sealants – and techniques to the subject matter they look like, thereby approaching a likeness without realistic rendering. She attributes her appreciation of mystery and the possibility of transformation in her work to her Catholic upbringing, in which materials were transformed and images held power over life. Her work intersects modernist painting, her own experiences, and the physicality of the body. Sometimes her work is about the application – paint is combed, piped, sprinkled and sprayed, reflecting traditional feminine work and crafts. Often the subject matter acts as a metaphor. The lines of a lawn chair seat serves as a veiled reference to the grid, and its breakdown – presumably by human weight – to an imagined encounter with the human body. *Make sure to use the "view in a room...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Enamel

  • NANETTE (Back with Fence) - Eleanor Aldrich - Figure - Texture - Contemporary
    By Eleanor Aldrich
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    "Nanette (Back with Fence)" is a textural, contemporary figure painting by Knoxville based artist Eleanor Aldrich. Refusing engagement, the figure is turned away from the viewer. Further distance is created by a rugged representation of a chain link fence and layers of paint, enamel, and silicone. The only clue to the figure's gender is in the title, and the collision of industrial materials with a female representation provides a poignant conflict. Flashes of found paper provide hints of a t-shirt or other type of graphic clothing...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Enamel

  • LAWN CHAIR WITH WHITE T-SHIRT - Abstract Figurative, textured, brown, red, green
    By Eleanor Aldrich
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    "Lawn Chair with White T-shirt" is part of the latest on-going series from Eleanor Aldrich. These "behind the lawn chair" vantage points provide Aldrich with the perfect subject matt...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Silicone, Oil, Panel, Magazine Paper

  • READER IN A LAWN CHAIR - Abstract Figure Painting, textured, red stripes
    By Eleanor Aldrich
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    "Reader in a Lawn Chair" is part of the latest on-going series from Eleanor Aldrich. These "behind the lawn chair" vantage points provide Aldrich with the perfect subject matter to convey her mixed media approach. More info below: Eleanor Aldrich was born in Springerville, Arizona. A participant at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, she also holds an MFA in Painting & Drawing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she currently lives. She earned her BFA in Painting & Drawing through the Academie Minerva (Groningen, the Netherlands) and Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. She was a participant in the Drawing Center’s first Open Sessions. Eleanor has had solo shows in Boston, Nashville, Knoxville, Flagstaff, AZ, and at the University of Alabama. Her work has been shown at Saltworks Gallery (Atlanta, GA), the Drawing Center (New York, NY), Grin (Providence, RI) and Ortega y Gasset (New York, NY). Her work was chosen for 1708 Gallery’s ‘FEED 2013’ (Richmond, VA). She has been awarded an Endowment for the Arts through the Whiteman Foundation, and the Herman E. Spivey Fellowship. Her work has been included in New American Paintings and on Artforum. Aldrich's work is textural and alchemical; she matches materials – often industrial sealants – and techniques to the subject matter they look like, thereby approaching a likeness without realistic rendering. She attributes her appreciation of mystery and the possibility of transformation in her work to her Catholic upbringing, in which materials were transformed and images held power over life. Her work intersects modernist painting, her own experiences, and the physicality of the body. Sometimes her work is about the application – paint is combed, piped, sprinkled and sprayed, reflecting traditional feminine work and crafts. Often the subject matter acts as a metaphor. The lines of a lawn chair seat serves as a veiled reference to the grid, and its breakdown – presumably by human weight – to an imagined encounter with the human body. *Make sure to use the "view in a room...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Silicone, Paper, Oil, Panel

You May Also Like
  • Rebirth 2
    Located in Ibadan, Oyo
    "Rebirth" is a compelling artwork created by Dennis Onofua, showcasing a young woman in a standing posture. The title suggests a powerful theme of transf...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Enamel

  • Fendi - acrylic, oil, vintage paper, fashion female model, collage in plexiglass
    By Peter Hoffer
    Located in Bloomfield, ON
    In his couture series, Peter Hoffer explores the theater of fashion through a reinterpreted runway. In this mixed media painting, a realistically rendered model for the Italian luxur...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Plexiglass, Oil, Acrylic, Board, Handmade Paper

  • A Thousand Kisses Deep, Lichtenstein vs Warhol
    By Alex Guofeng Cao
    Located in New York, NY
    Cao meticulously places each smaller image to form a dynamic gradient from dark to light which tricks the eye into seeing one image. This expertise in contrast is exemplified in all ...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Stainless Steel

  • Elizabeth Taylor, Siren Black & White
    By Russell Young
    Located in Los Angeles, CA
    Russell Young Elizabeth Taylor, Siren Black & White 37 x 29 inches Acrylic and enamel and diamond dust / screen print on linen This piece is unique Signed by artist Framed Currently...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Mixed Media

    Materials

    Enamel

  • The Poet: Contemporary Mixed Media Figurative Oil Painting. Gold and Silver Leaf
    By Sax Berlin
    Located in Brecon, Powys
    A beautiful representation of an ancient Grecian lyric poet, only Sax Berlin knows which one! This is a quite spectacular piece; it's richly created and could, one believes, be a wor...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Mixed Media

    Materials

    Gold Leaf

  • "That Kat Miles" Neo Expressionist Contemporary Portrait of Miles Davis
    By Sax Berlin
    Located in Brecon, Powys
    Jazz aficionado Sax Berlin offers his homage to Miles Davis. This piece is a street art version of portraiture, bold & incisive. There's a raw feel to this painting that has the musi...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Expressionist Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Silver

Recently Viewed

View All