Artist Statement
Bouncing between classical references and personal allegory, the paintings and found objects in my work reanimate historical motifs with bold color, heavy patterning, and playful mark making.
By co-opting familiar feminine tropes of antiquity, my work reimagines the narratives and symbolism of art history with personal interpretations. These myths are often recontextualized by examining the interplay of ambiguity and awareness within female sensuality working with symbolism of self reflection and digital vanity. A visual vocabulary of personal allegory (vase, flames, fruit, cows, cell phones, arrows, droppletes, columns, halos, etc.) are repeated throughout the work to create the dialogue between these figures.
Color and line work are continuously informing the creation of these figurative landscapes by pushing and pulling between the various mediums on the surface. Using red as a foundational point allowed me to play with the visual tension on the surface between the mediums: E.g pencil line quality atop airbrush, or thick acrylic next to a soft pastel. The high contrast between the deep black/blue, the bright red/orange and the highlights of soft butter yellow create a graphic chiaroscuro.
Poppy red, crimson, and vermillion, these vibrant hues and seductive figures reinforce their agency with symbolism of self reflection and vanity by use of a modern rectangular mirror: the phone.
Daphne Sweet is a multi-media artist from Southern California based in Missoula, Montana. She specializes in painting and ceramic mediums. Her design aesthetic mimics organized chaos found in the Rococo, Baroque, Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, and pattern design. Find more of her work at: https://daphnesweet.com/