Andrea Larsen’s Domestic Reject, an exhibition of oil paintings and pastel works by Andrea Larsen, runs July 8 – August 22 in the Naess Gallery at The Paint Spot. Watch the video to hear the artist share the concept behind her current work.
Andrea Larsen – Artist Statement
How do you create your own reality? What do you put in it? What do you love? Patterns and colours and people. Joy of creating and loving. Colours of calm and beauty. People and poses to create a reality.
Why? Why do people do this, and why did I do this? Spaces within a space and real within fake environments.
Dresses and pretty, nice and special in spaces of unreality and inconceivable. Are spaces always to make sense and be perfect? Can a painting make sense in a real but unreal space? Can you look within this space and see yourself?
Does beauty make sense or is it just beauty? Can you create something that makes sense but doesn’t fit.
Does a dress make a woman? What do patterns do for the eyes? Do they hurt? Are they calming? Are they pretty?
Bright colours are so bright but when you combine them with other colours, are they better? Or are they garish and ugly?
What makes a painting?
Patterns and colours and representations of women and girls – do they make a painting? Do they give you an idea of where a painting is taking you, or her, or it? Building constructs and motifs of the photographed image – do they make you feel? Are they better or worse than real life? Why do patterns feel good? What does repetition do? Why my daughter? Is she a representation of me, or is she following in my footsteps, with pretty dresses and pretty hair, and a pretty face? Is she a housewife or am I the unacceptable housewife?
Wonderland is wonderful and exceptional and unreal – do I want her to go down the rabbit hole? Mothers want the best for their children, but children are also a version of yourself.
Andrea Larsen – Artist Biography
Andrea Marie Larsen is a visual artist graduating from the University of Alberta in Art and Design with distinction in 2022.
I was born and raised in Edmonton and followed my artistic future a little later than planned. I am currently working in pastel, mixed media and oil painting. My focus is on portraiture and figurative art, focusing on representations from a feminist perspective. I work with the ideas of domesticity and the role of women in the 21st century and gender, self-portraits, still lifes, and figurative art from a feminist perspective in the realm of domesticity and gender roles. I am working from the feelings of frustration, exhaustion, and anger.
My perspective as a wife and mother in the 21st Century feels as though we are wives and mothers during the 1950s but times two. We are expected to cook, clean, be sexual, take care of our children, husbands, pets, schedules and with little to no help or thanks and get full time jobs. There is a physical toll, but the emotional toll can be overwhelmingly exhausting, it can consume and obliterate plans and love for loved ones. I feel as though we are slaves to our environments but with today’s expectations, we are considered bad mothers if we don’t meet these expectations.
I took some photos at the end of last year relating to my experience as a wife and mother. But for some, our husbands are the major financial contributor and therefore, do enough for the family in the provider realm of responsibility. I am working with collages from the photographs I have taken and compiled to show my view of domesticity in the 21st century with a view of my daughter following in my footsteps.
For more about Andrea Larsen, visit:
Instagram: @andreamarielarsen
Naess Gallery
10032 81 Avenue | Phone: 780 432 0240 | Email: accounts (at) paintspot.ca
Named for Sidsel Naess Bradley, The Paint Spot’s founder. who recognized the need for spaces that promote the exploration of artistic ideas and innovative processes. We are extremely proud of this heritage and its contribution to the development of many artists. Naess Gallery continues to be inclusive, encouraging dialogue among artists and visitors. We welcome proposals for exhibitions that push materials, techniques, subject matter, and conceptions.
In planning the Exhibition Year, we will be inviting artists whose practices we admire to exhibit their new works. It will be a year to revisit artists who have shown in the Naess Gallery in the past and to reveal new artists as well. We are going to see an exciting and enriching program of shows! If you have questions about the Naess Gallery or its exhibition program, please ask Kim Fjordbotten phone 780 432 0240.
See what’s new at the Naess Gallery, or be inspired by past artist talks.
Up Next in the Naess Gallery – Nicole Galellis
Previous Exhibition – Craig Talbot