Daphne Sweet, artist working and living in Missoula, Mt. Using acrylic, oil, clay, and fabric.
Bouncing between classical references and personal allegory, the paintings and found objects in my work reanimate historical motifs and paintings with bold color, heavy patterning, and playful mark making.
Familiar myths are often recontextualized with narrative using a visual vocabulary of personal emojis (vase, flames, oranges, grapes, cows, phones, cherubs, arrows, droplets, tiger stripe, columns, halos, venus,) repeating throughout the paintings creating a dialog between the work; and are reflected in physical forms as well.
By co-opting familiar tropes of antiquity, my work reimagines the narratives and symbolism of art history. The bold color and large figures in the work crowd into the compositions, the prominent color and excessive line work are continuously informing each other.
Stoic expressions of classic Greek sculptures, flirtatious line work of Rococo, lustrous fruit in Dutch still lives and graphic patterning cultivated by Matisse, are referenced throughout the work.
By removing the precious/remote view of antiquity and the ‘female nude’ from the male gaze, the figures assert their agency, reinforced by the size and bold colors demanded to be seen.