Manderley Swain

Lives and works in Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Artist statement

I am a multi-disciplinary artist working in watercolor, acrylics, ceramics and more. My work explores the relationships between fantasy and reality. With themes from folklore and mythology, the fantastic and the grotesque, my work aims to reveal moments of wonder, both light and dark. No matter the medium, or whether figurative or abstract, my work is asking ‘what if?,’ about the seen and the unseen around me. I find faces in coffee stains and peeling wallpaper and entire worlds in oil slicks and urban decay. In my landscapes and the more abstract watercolors I try to convey a sense of atmosphere by building up layers of soft hazy washes punctuated with brilliant color. I'm inspired by the atmospheric paintings of JMW Turner. In figurative works my process is similar, but my influences are artists like Jenny Saville’s portraits and the mysterious figures of women surrealists like Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo and others. In all mediums I tend to use egg shaped forms to explore the feel and characteristics of the materials. The egg and other organic shapes flow through all of my work, helping me build my visual language in deep, rich colors and dynamic shades of gray. Just as I changed direction at midlife to return to college, I’m changing direction in my work, as it evolves from two dimensions into three. I find I am still exploring familiar themes and forms but in new ways and with new challenges. I am now about a year from completing a Bachelor’s degree in studio art...

Artwork