Artist Statement
Unique and whimsical worlds provide a temporary reprieve from reality while playing on society's collective desire to escape.
I started my painting practice during the COVID-19 pandemic, and, as a result, it is heavily influenced by the Jazz Age and similar periods of escapism that followed tumultuous times in society.
The worlds in my paintings are intricately pieced together using references from art history, photography, theatre, film, books and Instagram, as I like to explore the role social media now plays in how we distract ourselves from the realities of the world. So many of the things that feel familiar to us come from things we've seen online, and it becomes hard to distinguish between those images and our own memories. My intent is to transport the viewer to an era that feels nostalgic and familiar in a way they can't completely identify—likely because the paintings tap into so many things they recognize—that also fills them with a sense of longing for a bygone era. There are so many ways in which we escape on a daily basis, and I weave all of those into my paintings to create detailed and cinematic narratives that tell a story within each painting.
There is always a touch of humor and satire in my work, particularly surrounding privilege and overindulgence, and I like to explore the line where escape gives over to excess and apathy. I often use staircases and levels to play with these themes and delve into the dualities of what it means to be human. I like to think of humans, and particularly women— who dominate the worlds I create—as complicated and fascinating creatures, which is why, in my work, they often appear as animal-like creatures as well. I think when we escape from reality, we tap into other versions of ourselves. This sort of transformation is so much of what happens to us on a daily basis, especially when we get lost in something that brings us joy or reprieve.
I paint on a large scale using vibrant color, texture and whimsy so that the viewer can be completely immersed in each scene. My hope is that people will enter the paintings with their whole bodies and get lost in the narrative, allowing them to constantly discover something new in the story—and find little Easter eggs along the way.
In this show, A Divine Comedy, named in a nod to Dante's Italian narrative poem, each painting explores the fine line between escape and excess. These works embrace a vibrant, cinematic paradise, and, with closer inspection, how the journey can sometimes take us to a place no longer reflective of reality. Each painting is a story filled with hidden narratives that invite the viewer to freely tap into their own desires and the journey they choose.
~Danielle Kosann
