my make believe collection :: 13 :: andrea higgins

Contributor post by Lisa Solomon
 

Laura, 2001, oil on canvas, 52" x 52"

in my mind some of the best art is created via some form of obsessiveness. andrea higgins' work is a perfect example of this. i first saw her work in 2003 at sfmoma's SECA exhibition and was immediately hooked.

detail of Laura

in my mind some of the best art is created via some form of obsessiveness. andrea higgins' work is a perfect example of this. i first saw her work in 2003 at sfmoma's SECA exhibition and was immediately hooked.

Portrait of My Grandmother #2, 2000, oil on canvas, 52" x 40"

detail of above

she started out meticulously painting textiles as portraits of people she knew - or fabrics she remembered/where in her life. the above is a depiction of her grandmother via a familiar houndstooth plaid. i love the simplicity and depth of this idea. we all know that what we wear says a lot about us. it can make or break an impression, it can begin to tell people who and what we are and what we believe in.

Jackie (Mexico), 2002, oil on canvas, 24.5" x 21"

detail of above

she then moved onto outfits from president's wives. brilliant really. they are so scrutinized for their apparel. almost too much hinges on what they wear: how they wear it, who designed it, what color it was, whether or not it was appropriate for the occasion. i love how "familiar" these feel. you recognize them as fabric, but then realize they are painted. by hand - lines and dots repeated until they form an abstract whole. i love that they are not in the shape of clothes. that they are literally rectangles. reinforcing their "painting-ness". of course jackie o get's more than one rendition:

Jackie (Bogota), 2002, oil on canvas, 24.5" x 21"

detail of above

currently she is working on portraits of characters from literature. there's a great explanation of some of her work and some passages of text that correspond on her dealer's blog. she shows with todd hosfelt in san francisco.

Dorian, 2008, oil on canvas and panel, 28" x 36"

i adore the conceptual nature of her work. but ultimately i also love that these end up being very meditative and luscious paintings. they are in a way paintings for painting's sake - the texture and strokes so evident. i was a costume designer in another life, so thinking about pattern and form and what clothing conveys is also something that interests me, so i get a good dose of that in these as well.

andrea painting

 you can view a KQED piece on "the president's wives" series..... and which piece do i want for me? i thought at first one of the jackie o pieces, but then ultimately? it has to be this one:

Lady Bird, 2003, oil on canvas, 60" x 38.5"

detail of above

i love the lemon yellow. i love that i can almost picture what this 1960's dress would look like from this small snippet - textured sateen maybe? empire waist? her hair perfectly coiffed. yes. this one is for me.

thanks for playing along with me as my collection grows. you can follow it on pinterest. till next time. happy almost fall !

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lisa solomon is a mixed media artist who lives in oakland, CA with her husband, young daughter, a one eyed pit bull, a french bulldog, a cross-eyed cat, a 3 legged cat, and many many spools of thread. she moonlights as a college professor, a graphic designer, and is a partner in MODify/d a crafty biz that up/cycles and re/purposes discards from the fashion industry.