Mirrored - Anai Madrid

Anai Madrid -

The main concepts for my artworks were rooted in women's representation, emotion and relationships. My theme for this body of work is how female experiences are conveyed. I was heavily influenced by artists such as Otto Dix and Mickalene Thomas. These artists contributed to my surrealist style of art paired with vibrant color palettes. Otto Dix inspired the creation of my slightly peculiar characters with long necks. The signature long necks were emphasized similarly to Dix who would emphasize certain features in his work. Mickalene Thomas’s works are very colorful and bold portraits of black women which contributed to my works thematically and visually.

The majority of my work is created with canvas, acrylic and oil. My first oil painting, Unwind, was one piece that established my stylistic endeavors as I explored a chaotic color palette and continued the long necked women. The long necks and tranquil attitude were inspired by Mickalene Thomas’s work which focuses on women empowerment and 70’s culture. This piece conveys emotions of relaxation and exhaustion which are juxtaposed by disturbing symbols in my work Trust. This piece conveys the dilemma of unhealthy relationships and the negative emotions associated with traumatic experiences. This acrylic painting is where I was able to achieve a softer finish similar to an oil painting which contributes to consistency within my surrealist style.

My piece, Control, is my most opinionated piece, as it relates to my perspective on women's reproductive rights and the annoyance which overcomes many women. Control represents a commonly tense relationship between pro-life and pro-choice parties. To some, they feel entitled to women’s bodies yet I argue for bodily autonomy. The annoyance in the woman's face is indicative of how frequently women are faced with this issue. My work is focused on women because of my experiences and passion for advocacy of women's rights. Finally is Kute which features emotions of infatuation and joy. This was my most recent work which explored healthy relationships and the arid emotions surrounding intimacy.

Unwind, Trust, Control and Kute, all feature female characters with long necks. This surrealist anatomy and cohesive color palette helped visually emphasize the emotions of my character. Ultimately, this contributes to the exploration of female experience and how these emotions are conveyed within my body of work.

Why like This ?, Acrylic on canvas, 26cm x 51cm

This piece was meant to explore femininity and the negative emotions of unrealistic expectations. The woman is very distraught which reflected my own emotions at the time. I also experimented with a slow dry medium because I wanted to create acrylic pieces on a larger scale.

Control, Acrylic on canvas, 22.9cm x 30.5cm

This piece features a young woman doing her errands when she is interrupted by a nosy old man. The old man has a magnifying glass pointed at the woman's stomach. This piece represents lack of boundaries between pro-choice and pro-life parties in which some feel a sense of entitlement towards women's bodies and choices. This piece is biased towards the pro-choice perspective because I believe that women have a right to their own opinions and bodies.

Untitled, Oil on canvas, 30cm x 30cm

This piece was my first attempt at a 5 point perspective. I used oils and multiple new mediums like linseed oil, walnut oil and galkyd. I focused on improving my proportions and making my characters appear more realistic while still maintaining my surrealist style.

Unwind, 53cm x 42cm, Oil on Canvas

This piece was heavily inspired by Mickalene Thomas piece “Le déjeuner sur l’herbe: les trois femmes noires”. It is my largest and most experimental creation which took me the longest time to complete. This piece focuses on female representation of women performing mundane tasks. The women’s laid back expressions create a lazy, exhausted effect. The colors, clothing and furniture were inspired by 70’s culture.

Control, 22.9cm x 30.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

Kute, 28cm x 35.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

This piece juxtaposes Trust as it depicts a healthy relationship between two women. The emotional connection in this piece is heavily inspired by my own relationships and experiences. I tried to capture this concept through a deep color palette surrounding guiding focus to the characters. This was the most recent creation for my exhibition. For techniques, my goal was to improve the details and proportion in my characters.