Artist's Statement:
Primarily, my work is about passion and intimacy. I choose to forego the more traditional method of conveying this through the figure and express it through the use of line, marks, and an abstract view of the natural world.
My work explores passion and intimacy, and I use botanicals and organic shapes to express the age-old, timeless mysteries of romance, spirituality, and human nature. I am inspired by the high drama of Baroque art and sculpture, following the trail of Renaissance art but applying the softer drama of the Impressionists in color, brushstroke, and response to light.
Within my creative process, whether the medium is oil, acrylic, or watercolor, the natural world takes on feminine and masculine personas as I forge a new painting language that merges the spiritual and the physical. My goal is to capture a thin space, the space in between spaces, where there is a wonder that plays out as a progression, a movement, into a type of courtship, almost a dance that will lure the viewer in and invite them to exist in this same beautiful, enigmatic space.
Monica Lee Rich - Pawtucket, Rhode Island 2024
