Influential Artists

Aya Uekawa

The work of Aya Uekawa is very interesting in my opinion.  The way she incorporates figure painting with design is intriguing to me and relates very much to the series I am working on now. Her figures are very stylized and unique but are painted with a very soft and smooth touch that creates an elegance in her work. This mixture of portraiture surrounded by design is what I am also playing with right now, but the design created around her figures is pattern oriented and repetitive whereas my design is very much more lose and freely created with a continuous design that flows off the surface and does not repeat. Her work can be seen at ayauekawa.net

Kehinde Wiley

Kehinde Wiley is an amazing portrait artist.  His representation of the human figure is very photorealistic and his work deals with everyday people, their lives, and society while also putting the subject in relation to traditional classic painting.  I admire his work because he takes the subject out of context and is able to create a personal reality for each individual through design and pattern. Somewhat similar to what I am trying to accomplish with my series only my subject matter is more personalized.  His work can be viewed at kehindewiley.com

Ryan McGinness

Ryan McGinness has a very diverse range of work, from painting, design, silkscreen, and even sculptural mixed media creations.  This example of his work is inspirational to me.. taking it back to Von Dutch.  But just the cleanliness and symmetricality (if that's a word) and brush work is impressive and not easy to create and repeat. As a graffiti artist I have much respect for this. Check out ryanmcginness.com