TitleSalad
Artist
Elena Sisto
(b. 1952)
Date2014-2015
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 30 x 40 in.
SubmissionNA diploma presentation, May 3, 2017
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, gift of Elena Sisto, 2017
Object number2017.7
Label TextThe daily experiences of my life in the studio (and surroundings) and the influence of framing on perception are two of the main subjects of my work. I love to paint what’s right around me and relate my existence in the studio to the rest of the world.I think of myself as putting a frame around the intersection of very large forces (both in terms of form and content) highlighting where they interact on the intimate level. I want to frame the familiar in a way that makes it unfamiliar and to find the greatest drama in the smallest gesture. I think of Morandi when I think of great drama in small changes.
My intentions are partially political, disrupting habits of perception thereby introducing the possibility of choice and relating the impact of the personal on the general and vice versa. Also, I have always felt that to paint seriously as a woman and to portray this in painting is a powerful political act in and of itself. I’m a figurative painter but not a narrative painter. I try to make my images direct and economical. My process is intuitive, and I am very interested in the painterly aspects of the work. I try not to think too much about the content but concentrate on the picture in terms of internal scale, light, space, and color, experimenting with paint viscosity, manipulation, flow, and the chemistry of paint and media. I aim to keep a balance between the formal needs and the content of the painting that is exactly equal. This creates a kind of dialectic that takes its own direction and allows the imagery to develop relatively unselfconsciously and surprise me. Literally, the last thing I want to know is what I’m painting about. When I realize that, the painting is done.
I am also interested in humor because of its disruptive and joyful nature. Humor has the ability to spontaneously realign one’s perception of reality, yielding a new perspective, and replacing a formerly restrictive one. It’s an important tool for me.
There’s a constant flux in my process between developing an image, erasing it, and restating it more simply. I want the work to have a depth of experience but have a light touch.
