Cassie Tatum
Artist Statement
This collection is an exploration of the unique likeness of individuals to express modes of intimacy. I began investigating the power of form and color to better understand the structures of the human body. Through subject matter and color palette, the works are meant to prompt an emotional dialogue between the viewer and the art. My main focus began as portraiture, working from life and photo. The collection depicts self portraits of both hands and busts along with repetitive paintings of Elise, my closest friend.
The series of portraits of Elise are meant to confront the idea of intimacy from a distance. The works are painted from photos I took of her that I felt captured her presence. While I’ve been on campus, she’s been living in Louisville. Through the process of painting her without actually seeing her in person has created a new closeness between us. I have been studying her face continuously throughout the semester, even from afar, and because of this, I feel like I know her even better.
My hope was to capture a unique likeness while playing with color palette to address individual emotion, or mood. Specifically in portraits of Elise, my color palettes were chosen to capture the varying emotional modes of the subject. During my process, I realized that observing the structure and form of hands and feet significantly helped in understanding portrait painting. As I continued working, I alternated between painting hands and portraits in the hope that each work would inform the next.
The faceless self-portrait from life titled Stripes is meant to capture my identity through the use of color, shape, and movement. I have depicted myself as a shirt and a hand. The body beneath informs the way the shirt hangs and how the stripes move across it. In this painting, the shirt carries the weight. It has a life of its own as it takes up a majority of the panel space and draws the viewer in with soft pink hues. I spend most of my time in this shirt. I paint in it, sleep in it, and lounge in it. In my mind, the clothes I wear casually are the clothes I wear around the people closest to me. It is my hope that the shirt itself reflects a sense of intimacy and comfort. I specifically decided to include my left hand in order to bring a sense of unity to the collection. Other works feature hands, which are a part of the body that reveal identity. Every hand is complex, and each extremity differs from the next. I believe that hands can tell us a lot about a person, and in that way, the hand in this painting is a reflection of myself.
Many of my works deal with light and the ways in which light informs the shapes and contours of the human form. Blinds in particular reveals light as the focal point. The light streaming in through the window and the shadows cast by the blinds emphasize the curve of a cheek. Light can often be diffuse, but in my paintings I deal mainly with luminous light in order to play with contrast. Bright light hitting the back of a hand allows for a focus on the subtle shadows in the palm. When we show ourselves completely lit, we are most vulnerable. Light asks us to truly look at the subject in front of us, prompting a sense of intimacy.
My initial question was: can a piece of art be a vehicle for fostering intimacy between object and viewer, or object and self? In my process, I learned that attempting to represent the self and others in paint fosters closeness. I connected deeply with my own mind and body while also creating an intimate connection with Elise from a distance. My hope is that the works reveal the growth I experienced from painting to painting, allowing the viewer to connect with my process and understanding of small moments of intimacy.