Closer Painting

Tania Alvarez (b. 1983, Seville, Spain) earned her MFA at the New York Academy of Art in 2017 and BFA at Pratt Institute in 2005. Her work has been exhibited at Miriam Gallery (Brooklyn, NY, solo), Woodstock Artists Association and Museum (Woodstock, NY), Collar Works (Troy, NY), Golden Artists Colors (New Berlin, NY), The Clinton Foundation (Harlem, NY), Jackson Dinsdale Art Center (Hastings, NE), The Untitled Space (New York, NY), Matthew Flowers Gallery (New York, NY), First Street Gallery, (New York, NY), and abroad at The Delphian Gallery (London, UK). Alvarez has been awarded residencies at The Sam and Adele Golden Foundation, The Studios at MASS MoCA, Cuttyhunk Island Artists Residency, The Central Academy Of Fine Arts Residency (Beijing, China), and The James Castle House Residency in Boise, Idaho (2022). She is a two-time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant and currently lives/works in Upstate, NY. Statement: Through the use of mixed media and acrylic, my work explores memory through painted interior spaces. In my paintings, each mark, memory, or object transfers the traces of my lived experience onto the canvas and allows the piece to act as a distanced self-portrait. Window-like forms, which are devoid of human presence, are used to tell a story about the isolating experience of living with chronic illness and the shared human experience of being alone. Recently, my works have become smaller, more contemplative, and painterly forms of journal making. The images I paint are autobiographical and change as time passes. Rather than let illness dictate my story, my paintings employ memory in an attempt to regain narrative control of my life. Medical interiors, patterns inspired by examination robes and curtains, and the passing of time are often components of my work while color, perspective, and other formal or compositional choices preserve raw, individual experience and provide clues for the viewer.