Suzannah Sinclair (USA) - Stene Projects

Suzannah Sinclair (USA)
www.suzannahsinclair.com

Introduction

Suzannah Sinclair borrows images from vintage men´s magazines of the 1970s for her watercolor paintings on birch panels. She is, in her way, reclaiming the centerfold. She paints nude women, stereotypically reclining on the grass or cavorting in front of a mirror. What´s different is in the women´s eyes. They don´t have the quasi-confrontational come-hither gaze of the Playboy centerfold. Rather, they appear to have an inner life. It´s intentionally hard to tell what´s going on with them emotionally. The paintings are gorgeously crafted. The transparent watercolor reveals the wood grain beneath, suggesting that these images are just shimmers, here and gone, passing as quickly as a desire sated. Sinclair imbues her work with a vivid push-pull effect, deploying strategies of objectification even as she recovers some of her subjects subjectivity. Clearly, this artist loves beauty, but as she revels in it with her forms and materials, she also questions its costs.

Vice Magazine

Feeling is Good, 2011
(installation view, Stene Projects)