“Double Take.” Alexa’s beautiful, half-painted self-portrait. Copyright: Alexa Meade
Alexa Meade: Your body is my canvas“If
I want to paint your portrait, I’m painting it on you — physically on
you. That also means you’re probably going to end up with an ear full of
paint because I need to paint your ear on your ear,” says Meade in this extremely fun talk,
given at TEDGlobal 2013. “The mask of paint mimics what is directly
below it. In this way, I am able to take a three-dimensional scene and
make it look like a two-dimensional painting.”In today’s talk, Meade tells us how she went from a political science major (who hadn’t picked up a paintbrush since summer camp) to a working artist with an unusual style that swirls paint and reality into a mind-bending remix. Her work, she says, began as a study of the ways in which shadows fall on the three-dimensional world, but has expanded into something so much more. “For a while, I focused on inanimate objects and created a number of still lifes,” Meade tells the TED Blog. “But I found the human form such a compelling subject that I began to focus on it.”
Meade’s work reminds us of artist Liu Bolin, who shared how he paints himself into complex backgrounds at TED2013.
Liu Bolin: The invisible manHe
also stirs painting, photography and self-portraiture into a compelling
cocktail. So we asked Meade about the similarities and differences in
their work. “Liu Bolin paints figures that blend into the background.
Essentially, his figures are hiding in plain sight in a powerful optical
illusion,” says Meade. “In my art, my subjects are also hidden under a
layer of paint. But rather than camouflaging my figures, I work toward
the opposite optical effect. Using exaggerated brushstrokes, I highlight
the surface attributes of their bodies. This self-referential mask
obscures yet illuminates the underlying forms.”So what would an Alexa Meade and Liu Bolin collaboration look like?
“I could envision starting with a scene that Liu Bolin created, and then painting an impressionist-style painting directly on top,” says Meade. “The 3-D nature of the scene would become invisible and would be compressed into a 2-D painting.” In other words, it would be very, very cool.
Watch Alexa Meade’s talk to hear more about the genesis of her style. And below, see a selection of Meade’s images as well as some that show how they were created.
“Egg on Egg.” This still-life is painted on top of the actual food. Copyright: Alexa Meade
“Risen.”
This painting of a street art scene includes a surprise. The
black-and-white figure is a painted person standing in front of a
background. Copyright: Alexa Meade
Behind
the scenes of “Risen.” This photograph of Alexa Meade photographing a
scene gives a peek into her process. Copyright: Alexa Meade
“Portrait;
Self-Portrait.” This is a shot of a very cool installation Alexa Meade
did for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. This interactive
installation allowed visitors to pose behind the cut-out frames on the
walls to appear as a photograph on the wall of a painted picture. See
more here. Copyright: Alexa Meade
“Head
Trip.” A collaboration between Alexa Meade and Sheila Vand, the
background of this image is actually a tub of milk with paint swirling
in it. Copyright: Alexa Meade/Sheila Vand
A look at “Head Trip” in progress. Copyright: Alexa Meade
“Hesitate.” This beautiful profile was created by painting a model and placing her in milk. Copyright: Alexa Meade/Sheila Vand
“Hesitate/Activate in progress.” A look behind the scenes of this image. Copyright: David Branson
“Aligned with Alexa.” Alexa Meade joins one of her painted subjects in an image. Copyright: Alexa Meade
And check out her Facebook page, where she keeps fans updated on new work »
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