Alyssa Monks: How loss helped one artist find beauty in imperfection
Alyssa Monks: Wie Verlust einer Künstlerin half, Schönheit in der Unvollkommenheit zu finden
Alyssa Monks transfers the intimacy and vulnerability of human experience onto a painted surface. Full bio
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about something personal
Ihnen etwas über mich,
may be helpful to somebody.
jemandem helfen kann.
I grew up the youngest of eight.
Ich war das jüngste von 8 Kindern.
und eine Schwester.
um zu zeigen, wie das war:
uns durch die ganze Stadt
from when I was eight to 16,
fuhr sie mich zu jedem verfügbaren Kurs,
in New York City.
in New York mit mir.
I learned a few survival skills.
lernte ich ein paar Überlebensregeln.
see you do anything stupid.
bei einer Dummheit erwischen.
und ordentlich zu sein,
and stay in line.
und nicht aus der Reihe zu tanzen.
die Regeln bestimmen.
to be an artist.
Künstlerin werden wollte.
to support my painting.
durch Kellnern zu finanzieren.
and I got an MFA,
auf der Hochschule
my brother asked me,
fragte mich mein Bruder:
mean next to the paintings?"
neben den Gemälden?"
that the paintings were sold
dass Bilder verkauft waren
had four electrical outlets,
and a toaster at the same time,
und Toaster gleichzeitig benutzen,
from back around that time.
as realistic as possible.
isolated and in total control.
und hatte die absolute Kontrolle.
of painting people in water.
Menschen im Wasser einen Namen gemacht.
the perfect enclosed environment.
perfekt als geschlossene Umgebung.
that kept me busy for a decade.
die mich ein Jahrzehnt beschäftigte.
with the bathwater to make it cloudy
in das Badewasser für einen trüben Effekt
I couldn't wait to paint it.
dass ich es gleich malen wollte.
kind of impulsive curiosity,
impulsive Neugierde an.
in my head and hair
meinen Kopf und in mein Haar gecremt,
with more than four outlets.
mit mehr als vier Steckdosen.
and inspiring each other.
und inspirierten uns gegenseitig.
who made this painting
der Bedeutung sagte er:
into adulthood, you're no longer a child,
erwachsen wird und kein Kind mehr ist,
by the responsibilities of life."
einen noch nicht belasten."
Lungenkrebs diagnostiziert.
and it was in her brain.
und in ihr Gehirn.
sank ich auf die Knie.
and I looked at her,
sah ich sie an
nicht um mich ging.
how to help her.
having him in charge,
taking care of her.
everything I could to help,
Mögliche tun, um zu helfen.
I'm going to need you later."
dich später brauchen."
and the internet didn't know:
nicht wussten:
versuchen, es zu beheben,
and whatever situation came up,
und ihr in jeder Situation
then now I was surrendering,
jetzt hatte ich aufgegeben,
the uncontrollable
into bed with her and sleep with her.
zu ihr ins Bett und schlief bei ihr.
his car coming up the driveway.
in der Auffahrt zu hören.
die sie gemacht hatte.
for breakfast.
zum Frühstück.
so schön wie möglich,
and bring their kids,
mit ihren Kindern.
wir einen Rollstuhl.
we could find to drink her coffee.
kleinsten Tasse, die wir finden konnten.
to help me with the showers.
"die schöne schreckliche".
after her diagnosis.
nach ihrer Diagnose.
supportive and attentive way.
gegenseitig zu unterstützen.
all together in this unknown,
of my time alone in a studio working,
im Studio bei der Arbeit verbringe,
eine Verbindung so wichtig,
for me to go back to my studio.
wieder in mein Studio zu gehen.
and I drove back to Brooklyn,
und fuhr zurück nach Brooklyn.
so that's what I did.
immer getan hatte. Also malte ich.
that was unraveling in me.
was sich in mir entwirrte.
rendered safe place
erschaffene, sichere Ort,
anderen Bildern kreierte,
I didn't want to paint anymore.
denn ich wollte nicht mehr malen.
and I wasn't a landscape painter,
keine Landschaftsmalerin.
much of any kind of painter at all,
spezielle Art von Malerin.
keine Erwartungen.
rücksichtslos und frei zu sein.
It didn't matter. It didn't matter.
back to my studio,
wieder mit ins Studio,
und zeichnete darüber.
that were fascinating me,
faszinierten mich,
the paint like I used to.
wie sonst kontrollieren.
and suggesting,
und zu suggerieren,
chaotic, turbulent surface
chaotische, turbulente Oberfläche
as I was when I was a student.
wie ich als Studentin gewesen war.
to put figures in these paintings, people,
in diese Gemälde bringen, Menschen.
both people and this atmosphere.
Menschen und diese Stimmung.
what I've been working on.
woran ich jetzt arbeite.
and it's like a preview, I guess,
das ist also eine Art Vorschau
anstatt nach drinnen.
what matters most to me,
was mir am meisten bedeutete:
where there's no resisting or controlling.
Widerstand und Kontrolle findet.
big losses in our lives,
in unserem Leben erfahren,
are out of our control.
in unserer Hand.
werden Sie demütig.
Sie Ihre Verletzlichkeit
und Menschen, die da sind,
to find something beautiful
die Schönheit zu finden,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alyssa Monks - PainterAlyssa Monks transfers the intimacy and vulnerability of human experience onto a painted surface.
Why you should listen
Alyssa Monks blurs the line between abstraction and realism through layering different spaces and moments in her paintings. Using semi-transparent filters of glass, vinyl, steam and water to flip background and foreground in her 10-year water series, she seduced the viewer into shallow spaces. Today, she is imposing a transparent landscape of infinite space over her emotionally evocative subjects.
The tension in her mostly large-scale paintings is sustained not only by the composition but also by the surface treatment itself. Each brushstroke is thickly applied oil paint, like a fossil recording every gesture and decision, expressing the energetic and empathic experience of the handmade object.
Monks's work is represented by Forum Gallery in New York City. She lives and paints in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Her latest solo exhibition "Resolution" took place March and April of 2016 at Forum Gallery. Monks's paintings have been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions including "Intimacy" at the Kunst Museum in Ahlen, Germany and "Reconfiguring the Body in American Art, 1820–2009" at the National Academy Museum of Fine Arts, New York. Her work is represented in public and private collections, including the Savannah College of Arts, the Somerset Art Association, Fullerton College, the Seavest Collection and the collections of Eric Fischl, Howard Tullman, Gerrity Lansing, Danielle Steele, Alec Baldwin and Luciano Benetton.
Born 1977 in New Jersey, Monks began oil painting as a child. She studied at The New School in New York and Montclair State University and earned her B.A. from Boston College in 1999. During this time she studied painting at Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence. She went on to earn her M.F.A from the New York Academy of Art, Graduate School of Figurative Art in 2001. She completed an artist in residency at Fullerton College in 2006 and has lectured and taught at universities and institutions nationwide. She continues to offer workshops and lectures regularly.
Monks has been awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant for Painting three times and serves as a member of the New York Academy of Art's Board of Trustees.
Alyssa Monks | Speaker | TED.com