Ellen Frances Tuchman, June 6, 2019

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Complex tales intricately woven of nostalgia, exploring the poetry of color and the marking of time distinguishes my work. Ephemera and souvenirs weave associative paths between past and present. An idealized world battles pop culture. Beneath the pretty veneer and couture beading lays some hard truths. I spin geometric modernism into a painted form that is assemblage, textiles, and drawing. It is something different; something delicate and fragile, beautiful and most of all, tough as nails.

The B-Side paintings encompass many dueling myths and the frailties in our relationships. As Rhett Miller sang “Murder or a Heart Attack”, I used talismans and double entendres to manage pains still lurking. My paintings are a counterpoint to mass production with their luscious patterning and surface embellishments, immediately throwing them into a conversation about the decorative, the value of beauty, high-low art, women’s handwork, femininity and male potency. I explore thematic conceits and plays-on-words, preferring to use ‘forbidden’ materials as pigment on a translucent Mylar ground. Many pieces are intentionally sentimental, telling universal stories with paint, sewing, and much ornament.