Katelyn Ledford's
Pleased as Punch was a decadent and eclectic view at visual recall of childhood imagery and the exacerbated imagination of the mind and its relation to object-hood. A contrasted approach to color and detail, Ledford's work locks in the line-of-sight with the intrigue of saturation and collection, emphasized with detail. The first painting upon entry - a high school desk, seen from below decorated with gum, quick-handed drawings and taped lighters - as if zoomed in with precise detail and imagined in a world of illustration and hyper-clarity. The near life-size stature of these paintings brings us to attention with the acutely precise linework that exhibits a photo-like quality. Further into the gallery space, another work stands out from the rest. A toy infant placed in a doll house of varied dimensions and assorted environments placed inside. The dollhouse appears set alight, the culprit loose match laying in front - the fire bringing the mind to alarm and holding us with the work, the viewer wonders "what's going on?"
It is this kind of absurdity that carries throughout the gallery space although on different notes. In an interview with The Art Gorgeoous, Ledford describes her work as "tart, pseudo, and thwart." These words of emphasis, allusion, and distraction accumulate in ideation that is consistently present with the selected works on view at the latest installation. Ledford impresses and intrigues.
Leo Holmes
I really liked how vivid your descriptions of Ledford's work were. They definitely capture how detailed these paintings were. I think maybe you could have talked more about the exhibit as a whole, even as you focused more on these two pieces. Additionally, I think some of Ledford's pieces were mixed media-- with photographs collaged on top of painting. It really tricked my eye because her paintings are so photo-realistic. I also really enjoyed the background information about Ledford's goals in her work as well.
ReplyDeleteI certainly found this gallery work interesting and have found the first painting impactful from the 3-dimensional gum in the work. I am wondering if there is a way to be more specific or to even place the last sentence as a description somewhere else, as it feels like a cliff-hanger compared to your detailed description in the first paragraph. It may also be useful to rearrange specific sentences by describing the gallery as a whole, placing the “The near life-size stature of these paintings…” near the beginning of the essay. This would help frame the scenario for readers.
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