Abigail Drapkin

Sleepfulness

2016

Gustavo Úbeda (1930-1994) - Surrealist Harlequin - Oil panel Oil measurements 41x50 cm. Frame measurements 44x53 cm. The painting by Gustavo Úbeda Romer...

Miquel Torner de Semir (1938) - Surrealist figure - Oil on canvas Oil measures 46x38 cm. Frameless. Miquel Torner de Semir (1938) Catalan painter attracted by the Middle Ages and I...

Aiden Kringen's (US based) "Opulence 6" is an original handmade oil painting that depicts a figure with her face in profile view surrounded with gold hued shapes and patterns About the Artist: A kaleidoscopic fantasia—crystalline planes floating in space, nestling together like immaculate puzzle pieces—abstract nebulae, human figures and faces enveloped in swirling fields or particles of energy—these number among the images evoked by the hauntingly enigmatic paintings of artist Aiden Kringen. Within this worldview a mysterious network of interlocking planes becomes visible to the beholder: mystical fields of unknown substance revealed as the building blocks of our bodies and semblances, surrounding, cocooning, perhaps even protecting us. It is a vision verging on the mystical, which Kringen portrays through a distinctive style: a fractured, cubistic mode of conscious- ness in which multiple dimensions or perspectives assimilate into an ecstatic whole. The artist deploys this style in opulent and seductive portraits as well as abstract tableaux whose optical signature is magnified by compositional dynamism and deeply layered surfaces. Born in Los Angeles in 1992, Kringen lived variously in the American West and Mexico—Sebastopol, Jalisco, Portland, Flagstaff—before settling in the hill- and vineyard-dotted environs of Sonoma, County, where he is now based. In these very different environments, each of which possesses a uniquely picturesque natural beauty, the artist began from an early age to develop his aesthetic approach. He has always had a keen eye for detail, grounded in a gift for looking closely at the human experience. “I’ve always been interested in observing people,” he recalls, “and in the details of how we interact with one another.” He put this natural ability to task when he began working on illustration and graphic-design projects while in high school. From his mother, an artist and graphic designer, he learned the fundamentals of composition and typography, the nuances of positive and negative space and the relationships between them. Using sheets of Letracet—a system for transfer- ring typeface—proved particularly instrumental in developing a methodology for layering and collage, which continue to inform his works on canvas and paper. He learned old-school tech- niques, hands-on and mechanical, in keeping with a Bauhaus-like appreciation for perfectionism, integrity, and hard work. Kringen began painting at 14. Then as now, drawing was central to his approach. He studied vintage anatomy...

Tiffany Dae's (US based) "Sea and Stars" is a original, handmade oil painting that depicts an African American face and a Caucasian face transposed over th...

Tiffany Dae's (US based) "Pocket Full of Dreams" is a original, handmade oil painting that depicts a feminine figure surrounded by darkness, gently holding...

Tiffany Dae's (US based) "Shadow Self" is a original, handmade oil painting that depicts a feminine face with blue lipstick fading into the darkness of spa...