Keltie Ferris, La Estrella, 2015, 80 x 80 inches, acrylic & oil on canvas
Only a few more days to catch an exhibition of new paintings and body prints by Keltie Ferris at Mitchell-Innes & Nash (through October 17, 2015). The new paintings continue and build upon Ferris' established process of layering brushed and sprayed shapes in high intensity colors, creating undulating hallucinatory spaces. In the new pieces, she is opening up her process a bit, working in broader strokes, sometimes with larger shapes and simpler compositions. The surfaces are more raw, with the various layers of activity left visible -- a sense of casual confidence permeating the best paintings.
The newest elements in the show are the body prints, where Ferris has made direct impressions in paint on paper. These works, while of course referencing the figure, are not about the figure, but rather, about the body -- and about a process of image/energy transferrence that is central to Ferris' intention as a painter. They are less related to Klein's infamous body prints, and more to those of Jasper Johns -- not as much a record of a process as an act of physical transposition of body and image. These works inform the paintings by enlarging our sense of the artist's aspirations for her work -- her desire to inhabit the spaces she creates, and for them to inhabit her.
Keltie Ferris, Cleopatra, 2015, 96 x 130 inches, acrylic & oil on canvas
Keltie Ferris, W(A(V)E)S, 2015, 96 x 130 inches, acrylic & oil on canvas
Keltie Ferris, [P]y[X]i[S], 2015, 30 x 30 inches, acrylic & oil on canvas
Keltie Ferris, Story, 2015, 90 x 80 inches, acrylic & oil on canvas
Keltie Ferris, Ray, 2015, 40 x 26 inches, oil & powdered pigment on paper
Keltie Ferris, Facade, 2015, 40 x 26 inches, oil & powdered pigment on paper
