DIANE WIENCKE

Peaks Island, MAINE, USA

I am a painter living on Peaks Island in Maine. I have attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Philadelphia College of Art, the University of Southern Maine and the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, where I received my MFA.

In this series of paintings I am exploring the parallel between abstraction and representation and the relationship they bring to fantasy. The paintings are all on cotton drop cloths. They begin as abstractions, heavily built up surfaces with an arsenal of materials, which may or may not include the following; oil paint, gold and silver metal leaf, tar, pieces of clothing and scrapes of cloth, metallic enamel paint, graphite and spray paint. I scour for reference photos of nudes or have friends model. Im looking for particular poses and postures, sensual and sultry. I then do the same for the animal parts. I play around with the coupling of animal heads to human forms, setting combinations which portray attitudes of power and aggression, yet still possess a desire.

Using graphite sticks, I transfer the sketched combinations onto the heavily worked surfaces of the drop clothes. I paint in oils, hoping the transitions from human form to animal head are seamless, sometimes adding decorative pieces of clothing, feathers, etc. I am interested in the intent of power in the gaze exuding from these Sexy Beasts. These girls are not vulnerable, you can gaze back, but that’s it!

Combining animal heads on sensual women’s bodies demands a gaze. This gaze is also prevalent in the subjects of the paintings, maybe more so, suggesting, “What the FUCK are you looking at!” I thought a good fit for a Darkness Show.

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