Blue Ridge 1 Print

Artist bio: Born 1989, Texas, USA Iris Warchall is a self-taught painter and lifelong art lover. Iris is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and as a child lived in North Texas and near Washington, DC. She has also been a practicing physical therapist since 2013. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Iris found herself seeking ways to keep her four-year old daughter entertained and stimulated while their typical haunts of the playground and library were closed. The two began to spend much more time drawing and painting, and Iris was reminded of the joy she found in creating art and inspired to spend more time pursuing her lifelong interest in the visual arts. Artist statement: Much of my painting is inspired by the Color Field and Abstract Expressionism movements. I am of course influenced by my experiences as a woman, a mother, a healthcare provider, and a resident of the complicated place that is the United States. In my art, as well as in all other domains of my life, I constantly am seeking new ways to look at things. I find joy in balancing the movement, texture, composition, and color in a piece. To me, the process presents itself as a pleasurable problem to be solved each time. My education and professional experience have driven me to have a strong interest in the human brain, and particularly the science of perception. Painting is a way for me to explore the subtleties of visual and tactile perception and how they relate to our impressions of the world around us.