In this occasional series, Fine Art Today delves into the world of portraiture, highlighting historical and contemporary examples of superb quality and skill. This week: Erin Anderson, “Felix Looking Backward, Looking Forward.”
Although Erin Anderson’s magnificent portrait “Felix Looking Backward, Looking Forward” graces the cover of Fine Art Connoisseur’s November/December 2016 issue, we simply couldn’t pass the opportunity to highlight the work once more as this week’s feature portrait.
Executed on a copper sheet, a three-quarter figure pensively stands at center and — presumably — in the nude. His hands are pressed together and raised to his chin, and a flash of brilliant purple emanates from his soft lips. “My compositions remain anchored in representational figure painting juxtaposed by abstraction,” writes Anderson. “The metal substrate and paint work in concert to communicate layers or levels of reality: one that is easily perceived and directly in front of us and one that can be felt and is dynamic or changing. To explore the connective nature of our experience, I make visual comparisons between the figure and systems in nature. I find that studying the ways in which nature is connected informs the ways I create atmosphere within and around my subjects. The ensuing work is an exploration of our relationships to one another and our fundamental connection with the environment.”
To learn more, visit Erin Anderson.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
