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Sarah Faux, Swells, 2016, oil on canvas, 72 by 56 inches
Exhibition
Sarah Faux & Mandy Lyn Ford. Touching in the Dark
21 Oct 2016 – 4 Dec 2016
Address
- 54 Eldridge Street
- New York
New York - 10002
- United States
Mandy Lyn Ford and Sarah Faux make art that evokes desire.
About
Faux’s provocative imagery hints at the body: figures entangle with a stray nipple or orifice. In Ford’s case, she transforms the canvas with dense textures and colors. The work appears straightforward and rests comfortably within the language of painting and sculpture, yet underestimating the tactile power of these works, the visceral reaction of an IRL experience would be to not fully ‘see’ these objects.
If we divorce ourselves from our sense of sight as the sole mode for experiencing painting, these works give more by way of touch and surface recalling the meeting of skin on skin. The closer you look at their work, the more personal and palpable the effect. Faux and Ford’s paintings stir a physical response, good enough to eat, the mouth begins to water, the hands twitch and some vague sense of urgency develops. Imagine months having gone by without feeling satisfied, ready to come out of your skin, unglued.
Faux and Ford’s work moves beyond just plain sight and generously offers a tactile engagement – a visceral experience for the viewer. Ford uses extreme texture, building up her surface until it is reminiscent of strange, densely layered foodstuff. It is physical work; it is direct and abrupt. Ford constructs and then excavates her surfaces, exposing the history of her actions on the piece. The final product taps into urges that we are taught to control, namely, the desire to physically interact with the paintings.
Faux’s enticingly tactile paintings further extend the appetite of touching and being touched. The work evokes the touch of fruit skin, the swelling of a chest, the crest of a wave. Looking at each stroke, we transcend the position of being merely an observer; through her swooping motions, luscious textures, and densely rich colors, we are invited into her creative process, gaining access through the application of layer upon layer of paint. They are seductive and meditative, the final result obfuscating her first bits of thought and stray marks.
