Abigail Dudley American, b. 1996

Artist Statement
My work revolves around juxtaposing high chroma color and undulating forms that breathe in and out of painted space. My paintings are concerned with distilling figures located in interior living spaces into images that chronicle the interplay between how people occupy space and how a space reflects personal presence. The subjects and backgrounds often expand and contract into each other to infuse a soft atmosphere of memory and perception into my paintings.

I am interested in the slow build. I am captivated by the slow build-up of forms and the subtle shifts in the color that a single brush stroke can yield. In my work, rhythms and color mingle together until the subject and image become one. These quiet observations are what fascinate me. Thin veils of color conceal and reveal stories that embed my search and visual discovery in the surface of my paintings.

My work focuses on the visual plasticity and slippage between personal narrative and formal, visual elements. I explore the hierarchy of importance placed on perception. For me, painting is an act of discovery, I find the surprise in small moments where flat paint on a surface morphs into meaningful encounters with my surroundings. Through this process, I tie together a space through intimate moments of perception. I aim to cultivate the idea of what it means to linger within a place. I am interested in the feeling of knowing a particular place and how that response can translate into a painting to act as a form of resistance to fast-looking in a culture that values mass production.