Renée Foulke

(b. 1958, Trenton, New Jersey; lives in Henryville, Pennsylvania)

Rene’e Foulks addresses the belief that human nature is essentially impermanent, cycling between states of birth, death, and rebirth. Her personal adage, “mortui vivos docens,” which translates to, “the dead teach the living,” is a testament to this theme. Foulks does not adhere to a specific religion, but she has varied interests in Greek and Roman mythologies, Gothic lore, and Native American rituals. Working from photographs as well as from life, the artist’s many preparatory works reveal a traditional method of painting that is mirrored in her classicized figures.