Bunnies and Guns

Amy Nelder

Wordplay

Artist’s Statement

I call my primary still life work Pop Trompe L’oeil. My paintings have evolved over time to encompass high realism. I perceive the world in this way—spotting the glistening corner of tinfoil on a cookie tray, the undulating dark and light on chocolate cake icing or the reflections on the curve of a half-full red wine glass. Everywhere I look I see a narrative still life painting, particularly inspired by scenes of my domestic life.

I do not paint things just because they are beautiful—there has to be a story. For me as a painter, the story is just as much a priority as the realism itself. I use the magnetism of high realism to draw the viewer in. But by twisting the subject matter with unexpected domestic objects I hope to convey the subtle but meaningful layers of simple human interaction, an appreciative consideration of the joys, and ironies, of the less-advertised moments in our lives. My paintings are both somber and tongue-in-cheek reflections of my perspective.

Although I am a high realist, I am also simultaneously aware of shifting certain areas to accentuate one thing or another in order to serve the narrative of the composition as well—it is important to me that whoever sees the painting sees it as I want them to see it, sees it as I see it - which is not always as it factually is.

I spent the first 25 years of my life identifying primarily as a singer and songwriter who also painted, but eventually those identities shifted, and I became a painter who did music on the side. I always notice how musical my painting is; my way of feeling color is rhythmic and lyrical. A painting is a composition, just like a symphony.

About the artist