Alyssa Monks: How loss helped one artist find beauty in imperfection
Alyssa Monks: Come il lutto ha aiutato un'artista a trovare la bellezza nelle imperfezioni
Alyssa Monks transfers the intimacy and vulnerability of human experience onto a painted surface. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
about something personal
un'esperienza personale
e il mio punto di vista.
may be helpful to somebody.
essere d'aiuto a qualcuno.
I grew up the youngest of eight.
Sono la più piccola di otto fratelli.
from when I was eight to 16,
da quando avevo 8 anni fino ai 16,
in New York City.
ho imparato alcune regole di sopravvivenza.
I learned a few survival skills.
see you do anything stupid.
ti scopra a fare stupidaggini.
silenziosa e cauta,
and stay in line.
e a ubbidire.
creata le mie regole.
to be an artist.
di voler diventare un'artista.
to support my painting.
per poter continuare a dipingere.
and I got an MFA,
my brother asked me,
mio fratello mi ha chiesto:
mean next to the paintings?"
accanto ai dipinti?"
that the paintings were sold
che i dipinti erano stati venduti
had four electrical outlets,
quattro prese elettriche,
and a toaster at the same time,
insieme al tostapane,
riuscivo a pagarmi l'affitto.
from back around that time.
as realistic as possible.
isolated and in total control.
e in controllo di me stessa.
of painting people in water.
a dipingere gente nell'acqua.
the perfect enclosed environment.
erano il posto adatto.
that kept me busy for a decade.
che è durata una decina d'anni.
with the bathwater to make it cloudy
nell'acqua per renderla torbida
nella vasca
I couldn't wait to paint it.
non vedevo l'ora di iniziare il dipinto.
kind of impulsive curiosity,
aggiungere: vinile, vapore, vetro.
in my head and hair
capelli e sulla testa
e agli eventi.
e riconoscimenti
with more than four outlets.
con più di quattro prese.
fino a tardi a parlare delle nostre idee
and inspiring each other.
who made this painting
ha fatto un dipinto
nell'oceano
e mi ha risposto:
into adulthood, you're no longer a child,
e non sei più un bambino,
by the responsibilities of life."
della vita sulle tue spalle".
un cancro ai polmoni.
and it was in her brain.
e aveva raggiunto il cervello.
sono crollata in ginocchio.
and I looked at her,
pensare a me stessa.
how to help her.
having him in charge,
taking care of her.
everything I could to help,
tutto il possibile per aiutarla.
I'm going to need you later."
Avrò bisogno di te più avanti".
i medici, gli esperti e internet:
and the internet didn't know:
mi sarei persa il tempo restante.
in qualsiasi situazione.
and whatever situation came up,
then now I was surrendering,
ma a quel punto mi ero arresa.
the uncontrollable
l'incontrollabile.
insieme a lei.
into bed with her and sleep with her.
e dormivo insieme a lei.
bello sentire la sua auto nel vialetto.
his car coming up the driveway.
prendendole entrambe le mani...
con cui beveva il caffé.
for breakfast.
per colazione.
il più gradevole possibile.
e ciabatte caldi,
and bring their kids,
con i nipotini.
una sedia a rotelle.
we could find to drink her coffee.
che siamo riusciti a trovare.
to help me with the showers.
per la doccia.
da nessun'altra parte.
after her diagnosis.
dopo la diagnosi.
i miei fratelli e io
supportive and attentive way.
darci supporto a vicenda.
all together in this unknown,
insieme,
l'uno dell'altro.
of my time alone in a studio working,
a lavorare nel mio studio.
che questo tipo di legame
che potesse farmi stare meglio.
for me to go back to my studio.
di tornare allo studio.
and I drove back to Brooklyn,
e sono tornata a Brooklyn.
so that's what I did.
Perciò ho dipinto.
that was unraveling in me.
che stava accadendo dentro di me.
rendered safe place
attenzione negli altri dipinti,
I didn't want to paint anymore.
perché non volevo più dipingere.
"Proverò ad andare all'aperto".
and I wasn't a landscape painter,
Non ero una pittrice di paesaggi.
much of any kind of painter at all,
era ricoperto di insetti.
It didn't matter. It didn't matter.
Non importava.
back to my studio,
e ci ho disegnato sopra.
that were fascinating me,
e dalle imperfezioni.
the paint like I used to.
come in passato.
and suggesting,
lasciarla intendere,
chaotic, turbulent surface
caotica e imperfetta
as I was when I was a student.
come quando studiavo.
to put figures in these paintings, people,
delle figure nei dipinti, delle persone.
both people and this atmosphere.
soltanto adrenalina.
quello su cui ho lavorato.
what I've been working on.
and it's like a preview, I guess,
della mia prossima esposizione.
what matters most to me,
ciò che più contava per me.
where there's no resisting or controlling.
in cui non c'è resistenza o controllo.
big losses in our lives,
nella nostra vita.
are out of our control.
dal nostro controllo.
"Che succeda".
Umiliatevi.
le vostre debolezze.
to find something beautiful
qualcosa di bello
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