Splatter Flower Print

Felicia Mathis is an artist who mainly works with mixed media paintings. In a search for new methods to ‘read the city’, Mathis focuses on the idea of ‘public space’ and more specifically on spaces where anyone can do anything at any given moment: the non-private space, the non-privately owned space, space that is economically uninteresting. My paintings don’t reference recognizable forms. The results are deconstructed to the extent that meaning is shifted and possible interpretation becomes multifaceted. By applying abstraction, she touches on various overlapping themes and strategies. Several reoccurring subject matter can be recognized, such as the relation with popular culture and media, working with repetition, provocation, and the investigation of the process of expectations. Her works often refer to pop and mass culture. Using written and drawn symbols, a world where light-heartedness rules and where rules are undermined is created. By using popular themes such as sexuality, family structure, and violence, she creates intense personal moments masterfully created by means of rules and omissions, acceptance, and refusal, luring the viewer round and round in circles. The most common acrylic painting technique, I use is layering. The beauty of acrylic paint is that it dries fast (unlike oil paint). This means, that I can paint a layer of acrylic on my canvas, wait for it to dry, then paint another layer over top. This method can give depth and richness to my paintings. Some surfaces for painting with acrylics, I utilize are canvas, wood, or paper. But once primed with gesso, acrylics can be painted on almost any surface, such as fabric, clay, or even your old vinyl records!