Sam Ehrlich

My body of work aims to explore the human form and nature, the viewer's relationship to the work, and how raw emotion can be portrayed. My choice of subject matter is used as a way to aid in this exploration, and I attempt to express emotion in an unfiltered way. A recurring theme in my work is the human body, in both its entirety and close up facial expressions. I gravitated towards this theme because I found that the human form is a strong way to foster empathy or other strong emotions in the viewer. The theme of nature later influenced my work, and I found that it also elicits emotion. I also found that combining nature and the human form is an interesting way to explore emotion, either in a single piece or in the show’s entirety. Nature can either be used to contrast with the human form, such as in the Hunters series, which also juxtaposed multiple unique and vibrant watercolor backgrounds with a repeating linoleum print of a hunter. It can also be used to aid in the conflicting feelings of both isolation and calmness, such as in Self-Portrait where I surround not only myself but the viewer in an abstract repeating green brushstroke, inspired by nature. I also aim to see how the subjects in my work can make the viewer feel a closeness or uneasiness when viewing the works.

Another motif that has been explored throughout my work is how I want to express my identity, specifically as a man. This is evident in pieces such as Blue, in which I used my own chest hair as a reference image and then amplified the density and amount of lines to create abstraction. I have found it interesting to combine aspects of masculinity with a non traditional emotional aspect. My younger self-portraits, while emotional, remain unambiguous. The works confront the viewer unapologetically, much like a child would be unafraid to. This is achieved through the centered and cropped composition, as well as the expression of facial features. My large scale painted self-portrait as a teenager and two sharpie self-portraits as a teenager tell a more conflicting story. This was more difficult to express to the viewer, so I used more expressive techniques. Many iterations of the teenage sharpie self-portraits were created, but I curated the ones that both had a level of chaos and messiness, as well as beauty in the forms represented. Only a combination of the two ideas give a more true representation of myself. My concept of portraiture has been greatly influenced by the works of both Egon Schiele and Lucien Freud. I adapted some formal qualities of Schiele’s work into my portraiture, such as a monochromatic palette and his isolation of the face or certain body parts. More importantly, the two artists showed the importance of taking away the traditional beauty associated with portraiture and expressing raw emotion. The work of Édouard Manet has also influenced my work. After viewing works such as Olympia and Luncheon on the Grass I was prompted to explore the concept of the viewers relationship to the work.

The focal point of the installation is my triptych self-portrait. The piece is almost lifesize and engulfs the viewer. The show can be quite overwhelming, as many different colors and materials are used, and this is intentional. The theme of mystery can also be seen in the show, such as with the inclusion of Man. This subject only appears once, and his back is turned to the audience as well as placed in the upper right corner of the show. This explores the relationship of strangers that one sees everyday, which especially applies to me as a New Yorker. There is no full way to understand these strangers' stories, and this relationship is similar to that of the artist and viewer in many ways. On the upper right of the show there are two pieces that were grouped together because they are both prints that use single colors, but also because these two pieces also contrast as Blue is based on the human body, while Red is based on nature, yet they still create similar forms that harmonize.