Painting ‘In the same boat,’ From series ‘Family Portraits, Acrylic on wood’
This project involved a collection of small, two-sided, acrylic paintings on wood of family members. I utilized not only brushes and palette knives, but also carving tools; recalling time spent woodblock printmaking. I wanted to encourage physical interaction between viewer and objects by painting on both sides of the block and keeping them small, hand-sized. They were displayed standing upright atop an antique table, with strings attached to the bottom of each piece, running through holes in the table, and attached to a weighty cluster of old eyeglasses. This project was inspired by traditions of iconography and painted miniatures, and plays with ideas of portraiture vs. snapshots and the untouchable nature of the art object.
Britta Baker 