A New Companion

In my Unit 2 study painting for ART 211, I am studying the artist Nicole Eisenman. Eisenman uses bold, exaggerated colours that are sometimes unrealistic, like green and grey skin. Her brushmarks consist of smooth, long lines that curve to form the shapes of the figures. They are controlled, and I do not notice her using a wet on wet technique. Her artwork tells stories and in most paintings, nearly all of the space is filled to tell the narrative. Each part of her paintings has small details that viewers are drawn to.

Nicole Eisenman, “Selfie,” 2014.

In the artworks that I viewed, Eisenman tends to paint her subjects as everyday people experiencing regular emotions and situations. In “Watchers,” Eisenman creates two average-looking characters, sitting on a couch watching TV together. They are in rather casual and neutral-faced positions and their dog is cleaning itself. She does not try to flatter her subjects but paints them as one might find the characters on an average day, not trying to impress.

Nicole Eisenman, “Watchers,” 2016

Apart from the bodies themselves, Eisenman uses colours and elements in the background to narrate her story. In her work, “Coping,” Eisenman paints a brown goo that seems to flood a town as people trudge through it with neutral facial expressions. I think she uses this dream-like imagery to symbolize the difficult, ongoing situations people go through and how it can feel so endlessly tiring. The goo leaves a significant amount of ambiguity as to what it is and how viewers are to interpret the image. Because it is brown, she might reference a flood, or be trying to use a dull colour to convey her message.

Nicole Eisenman, “Coping,” 2008.

I resonate with the metaphorical and emotional aspects of Nicole Eisenman’s work. I enjoy the dream-like imagery and how each piece makes me feel something. I also enjoy the bright colours that she uses in some images. I found her piece “Winter Solstice 2012 Dinner Party” especially relatable. In this painting, I see three pairs of people chatting or flirting and then one man sitting alone with his head on the table. I think he feels left out as he has no one to talk to. I understand this feeling when I am in a place where everyone knows each other better than me or when there are a few couples and I am left there single. Eisenman very effectively portrays the emotions in this piece in a way that makes viewers empathize with the subjects, remembering their own scenarios. This must be so effective because she paints everyday people that the viewers might be similar to themselves.

In my painting, I hope to incorporate Nicole Eisenman’s techniques by painting average characters in a situation with a relatable emotion. I might also use a surreal factor like the goo or disproportionate limbs to depict the message I choose.