On de Kooning

Woman in de Kooning's series represents the muse, the idol, and the goddess. Picasso, Ingres, Rubens, Rembrandt, and may great artist's carriers have been highlighted by their compelling representations of the female form. De Kooning used this history as grounds for his own experimentation with paint and abstraction, simultaneously expanding the history of woman as subject. My work lays bare both the weight of this history as a post-modern artist, and my feminine perspective of the masculine relationship to woman through art.

An influential piece to generations of artist, "Woman I" exhibits mesmerizing brush strokes unique to the capacity of oil paint. De Kooning was extraordinarily skilled in mixing oil paint with other media, and facilitating processes such as emulsion to enable his investigation of abstraction. Paintings in my series are enlarged micro compositions within the larger macro composition, Woman. Differing from de Kooning's painting process, my work facilitates the old master techniques of glazing. The resulting image gives rise to the illusion of brush stroke and thickness of paint.

Woman, as a subject throughout history, shows the reality of femininity in a patriarchal society. Woman painted by woman is a relatively new expansion of artistic expression, one in which these paintings on the theme of de Kooning find commonality. Woman and Man are equal parts of humanity, equally as human, and only idolized to the extent of our own beliefs. Looking to promote the deconstruction of patriarchy within art history, my work provides insight to inspiration sparked through a will for equilibrium and harmony.

Painting Gallery ©Elizabeth Fonacier 2013

Painting I ©Elizabeth Fonacier 2013

 Painting II ©Elizabeth Fonacier 2013

Painting III ©Elizabeth Fonacier 2013

Painting IV ©Elizabeth Fonacier 2013