In Bloom
April 12 - May 31, 2024
Opening Reception: April 12, 6pm-8pm
at
Yant Studio
72-50 Austin St 2nd Floor, Forest Hills, NY 11375
Featured artists:
Anna Kim, David Steindl, Frances Pun and Natalee Thongsongkrid
In Bloom
Throughout art history, flowers have been painted and explored in personal, creative and social endeavors. The artworks in In Bloom insist on expressing the artist's experiences and emotions through flowers, whether as the subject, the background or a palette cleanser. Flowers captivate a language of beauty in the form of aromatic delicacy, elegance and a reflection of life itself.
David Steindl
David Steindl is a visual artist from Portland, Maine, where the natural beauty of the region inspired generations of painters whose work became an early influence for him. David’s interest in literature and art history informs much of his paintings and the way they depict modern life. After moving to New York to study painting at the School of Visual Arts, David developed a style borrowing elements from the disparate artistic and literary styles which inspire him, ranging from Existentialist literature to the Baroque. David currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
“As an artist, I find that I give myself an unusual amount of freedom to play with the paint when painting flowers. All of these pieces are painted from either direct observation or imagination, and I use this work to sort of “cleanse the air” from my more intense subject matter. Much of my painting delves into sociopolitical themes, but as that work developed, I realized that simultaneously making paintings of flowers helped focus my mind, develop my formal techniques, and add nuanced to the emotional expression in my practice at large. For this reason, flowers appear in these paintings and the rest of my work as a metaphor for painting itself.
Flowers are beautiful but seemingly purposeless, yet of course they are essential for reproduction and growth; I that painting behaves similarly, both in my own life and culture at large.”
Frances Pun
Frances enjoys creating and telling stories through their artwork. Shifting fluidly through a broad range of styles, they incorporate whimsy and curiosity in their pieces. Frances is based in New York City. They graduated from the School of Visual Arts completing their BFA in Illustration.
“As a child, it was a habit of mine to carefully sidestep even the smallest of flowers blooming almost the cracks of urban sidewalks and tangled weeds, fearing to ruin their fragile beauty. However, as I grew up, I came to appreciate how resilient these blossoms truly are. With each season that passes, I marveled at their ability to endure the harshest of winter's and the cruelest of summer's heat, a testament to nature's strength and beauty.”
Natalee Thongsongkrid
Natalee Thongsongkrid is a visual artist based in New York. She approaches her work using the formalities of paint as its own language for promising narratives. Natalee’s flowers stem from her use of delicate brushstrokes, personal mark-making and washes of the underpainting. This fundamental ambiguity between a real flower and what’s imagined draws the viewers in to contemplate issues of permanence and impermanence. Natalee references her collection of various images ranging from photos of store-bought flowers to gardens, flower studies and floral paintings in history; she selects and weaves in personal imagery. Natalee has received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts.
“The radiant sun directed on a bouquet makes a beautiful flower wilt faster than in the dark. Through painting, I express my choice to see the good within life and the effect of human connection to nature. I repaint my experiences of happiness and grief as a flower. My work further emphasizes this juxtaposition by including those in bloom and decay. Using reference photographs, I question reality by visually creating ambiguity between the abstraction and the realism of the representation of flowers. My touches of oil paint accentuate the curves of petals as I imagine what could have been in the photograph. I challenge how flowers, a metaphor for beauty in our natural surroundings, are in relation to our feelings as humans. “
Anna Kim
Anna Kim, a New York-based artist, captures the essence of natural life through her multimedia drawings and paintings, employing watercolor and colored pencils to breathe vibrancy into her subjects. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts, Anna infuses her work with her unique perspective, inviting viewers to explore the world through the lens of her childhood memories and her love for nature. Drawing inspiration from organic forms and botanical motifs, she imbues familiar subjects with new life and meaning, encouraging viewers to reconnect with the beauty of the natural world. Through her art, Anna invites audiences on a journey of discovery, fostering a deeper appreciation for the intricacies and wonders that surround us.
“Flowers embody a delicate and enigmatic beauty, their sculptural forms captivating the senses. My earliest encounters with nature were tinged with a fear of flowers, their vibrant hues and captivating shapes seemingly beckoning attention. I couldn't help but wonder: were their colors a deceptive allure, akin to the warning signals of poisonous creatures like brightly colored frogs?
While I appreciate observing and sketching flowers, there's an inherent desire to maintain a certain distance. It's as if they possess a silent gaze, with some exhibiting anthropomorphic shapes, resembling limbs, bodies, or alien creatures. Others mimic watchful eyes, and the intricate patterns on their petals form faces that peer into your soul. Painting these flowers became a means of expressing both fear and admiration.
In my art, I aim to convey the flowers' arrogance, their teasing allure, and the self-assuredness in their form that captivates everyone. Flowers, though seemingly still and unassuming, exude an air of
confidence. Through my work, I want to challenge the perception of flowers as mere symbols of loveliness, encouraging people to ponder the mysteries hidden behind their beautiful exteriors. “
