What do the objects we surround ourselves with say about who we are? For Angela Burson, the shirt we pluck from the closet in the morning and the drink we sip with dinner are especially engaging insights into personal and familial identities.
The artist, who is based in Savannah, often begins with old photographs and re-interprets vintage fashions, tile patterns, and household items in acrylic. She tends to skew proportions and perspectives, achieving a surreal style intensified by her signature crops and headless figures. A vivid, old-fashioned palette of yellow, baby blue, and pale, dusty rose characterizes the mysterious scenes, which peer into intimate moments rife with intrigue.
In “Taking Notes,” for example, we see two people sitting at a table, the suited figure scribbling on a pad of paper while another grabs for an olive martini. We’re left unsure of whether these notes reflect an investigation into an illicit event or chronicle a more legitimate (and seemingly less likely) cause. There’s also the nefarious cord-cutter in “Disconnected,” a piece in which a black rotary phone is sure to become an object of inquiry.
Of course, not all of Burson’s paintings appear to catch a bad actor. Her characteristic crops also zoom in on a delicate pair of sheer, polka-dotted socks or slender hands grasping a cocktail glass. The artist’s most recent body of work, Analog Conditions, depicts “artificially created situations (that) mimic real-world circumstances.”
Recurring motifs like suitcases and beloved pets allude to themes of liberation and companionship, although Burson continues to leave us puzzled: Why, for example, is there an open pill box next to an unattended pup? And what spurred the adoption of an adorable calico kitten? While ambiguous and inconclusive, Burson’s paintings prompt us, as a statement says, “to question the existential meaning of it all.”
Analog Conditions is on view from September 6 to 27 at Hashimoto Contemporary in New York City. Explore more from Burson on her website and Instagram.
