South Gallery
August 31st - October 2nd
Reception: Friday, September 10th 6-8PM
Artist Statement:
In some ways, most every piece of art I've made over the last three decades has been about what it's like to be a human in relation to other humans. It's something of an obsession for me, and maybe that's why I love portraiture so much. But ultimately, the face is still a mystery, only hinting at the depth of the living being in front of us. Archetypes can be a compelling way to speculate on how we're put together differently from one another, and how we're all ultimately the same. When I decided to make paintings representing the twelve signs of the zodiac, it seemed like a good structure around archetypes that would provide me with a juicy excuse to paint twelve portraits of people in costumes doing slightly weird things. What's life without a little fun? But over the course of the twelve, my appetite for costumes diminished, and I became more interested in the quiet humanness contained in every face I encountered. That said, my future as a painter definitely includes more fun with costumes, and also more faces, which are both always silent and never silent. - Amy Stephenson
artist BIO:
Amy Stephenson is a native of Memphis, TN, and studied art at the University of Memphis and Belmont University in Nashville. She has lived in Columbia for 14 years, and can be found most mornings and evenings wandering field and forest with her two dogs, collecting weeds, bones, and inspiration for paintings along the way. Her mother and daughter are both artists, and her paintings have long dealt with the nature of being human in relation to others.
