Amy Bennett Brooklyn, NY
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The paintings are glimpses of a scene or fragments of a narrative. Some of the images are conceived of sequentially. While the images don't necessarily need to be 'read' in order, I am interested in storytelling over time through repeated depictions of the same house or car or person, seasonal changes, and shifting vantage points. Like the disturbing difficulty of trying to put rolls of film in order several years after the pictures have been taken, I hope the collective images suggest a known past that is just beyond reach. I intend for the tiny scale to enhance an urge for more information. Similar to a memory, they are fictional constructions of significant moments and distillations of experience. One of my challenges is to invite the viewer to form his or her own connection and narrative so that he may empathize with the occupants' seemingly mundane existence.
Working with common themes such as transition, aging, isolation, and loss, I am interested in the fragility of relationships and the awkwardness of a group of people trying to coexist and relate to one another. As I transitioned my model into winter, snowbanks of increasing depth seemed to fortify a sense of isolation and quietness. The paintings portray both the magical and suffocating potential of snow, the wonder at its stark beauty and the hopelessness that spring might never come.
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David B. Smith
Owner, David B. Smith Gallery
"Amy Bennett's paintings are captivating. She balances the often haunting narratives present in her work with a sensitive, painterly beauty that is so engaging. As a part of her process, Bennett creates three-dimensional models, which she uses as source material for the visual tableaus in her paintings, and the visual result is somewhat detached yet strangely familiar."
Ali Cavanaugh
St. Louis, MO artist
"Bennett's work is simply amazing. When I look at her paintings I believe I'm seeing scenes from a dream; real but the details are fuzzy. She builds tiny dioramas of interior settings and landscapes to use as reference for her paintings. I consider this to be the little stroke of genius that keeps her work curious and fresh."
Amy appears in the following Top 10 lists
'House And Home'
"The neighborhood is perfect and yet it has an ominous feel...sort of like Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives.Very nice work."
"love your work. from a kid your art work made my day. i love little houses and dolls even though i am 13. i hope you think the world loves your art work and the art work loves the world. i shines to people and shows them there true talent. you did that to me. do to another."
"I like the quiet surreal ambiquity too and the painterly application of the images enhances that otherworldly quality that they have."
"haha i thought that also that it looked like pictures from the computer game Sims."
"This is very wonderful yhe painting is very cool."
"Really great. Its a good thing the artist is so interested in depicting the same houses and such. Otherwise she might have to build new models. I'm sure it's not an excuse or anything, but genuine interest in repitition."
"Fantastic. I love the way each painting adds a small piece to the story, and they build upon each other like chapters. And even though it's a surreal manufactured world - like the fake town in Beetlejuice - it all feels completely real. Really great work."
"This is one of the few paintings I have seen on this site that I think is really professional. The quality is consistantly good and the paintings evocative when I checked out her website!"
"Very interesting. Something sinister is happening in these cookie cutter homes in these cookie cutter neighborhoods."
"I love these works of art. The coloring is so vivid and that is what makes it so beautiful."