amybeverungen's photostream

Amy Beverungen: Horribly contemporary


My current body of work contains pieces based on natural occurrences that become contrived as they travel through my thought process and abstraction methods. These images show evidence of my current investigation of comparing contemporary and historic art movements as well as depict the basic irony of painting nature onto natural objects.

I begin by selecting a recycled, undiscovered, or donated material in which I may paint on. I choose these objects because I am awed by their personalities and spontanaeity. They ask me to accommodate their blemishes and incongruence, which offers new challege. I then research some form of nature, typically plant matter or landscapes. I excite this ancient scheme of landscapes and observation by replacing classical practice with modernized color schemes, varying line weights, and simplified, altered shapes. The material application learns to echo the subject matter through non discriminating, organic formations. Here i am allowing formal mediums such as conte, acrylic paint, etc. to break barriers and misbehave. I seldom conceive what the end result of the piece will be since I believe that, in the words of Dan Eldon, the destination is the journey itself. This method adds pliability to the production and the process begins to flow, incorporating successions between
improvisation and experience.


Conceptually I suggest the theory that in history, nature has always been forced to accommodate man, but in recent past, man has not always so willingly accommodated nature. My subjects struggle gracefully upon materials that have been perverted or engineered by man. This theory imposes an awkward marriage between the young and the wise. It is a marriage that induces thoughts on both defeat and optimism, finding equivalence in both forces.


Compelling pieces of artwork are just as beautiful and contrived in concept as they are in appearance. My attempts as an artist are not just to impress the viewer, but to seduce them into further inquisition and exploration of contemporary art. I choose to be an artist because I am able to translate my deeply pondered opinions into elegant, structured pieces. Exercising my voice through visual renderings keeps me evolving in my art education and satisfies my desire to find purpose as an artist.