Alyssa Monks: How loss helped one artist find beauty in imperfection
Алісса Монкс: Як втрата допомогла художниці знайти красу в недосконалості
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.
щоб розказати про щось особисте,
about something personal
may be helpful to somebody.
I grew up the youngest of eight.
я виросла наймолодшою серед восьми дітей.
from when I was eight to 16,
у віці 8-16 років,
in New York City.
у Нью-Йорку.
I learned a few survival skills.
я вивчила уроки виживання.
see you do anything stupid.
бачити дурниці, які ти робиш.
and stay in line.
to be an artist.
що хочу стати художницею.
to support my painting.
щоб підтримати свою творчість фінансово.
and I got an MFA,
my brother asked me,
брат запитав:
mean next to the paintings?"
поруч з картинами?"
that the paintings were sold
що картини продані,
had four electrical outlets,
було лише чотири розетки,
and a toaster at the same time,
і тостером одночасно,
from back around that time.
as realistic as possible.
якомога реалістичніша.
isolated and in total control.
і все тримала під контролем.
of painting people in water.
малюючи людей у воді.
the perfect enclosed environment.
були ідеальним середовищем.
that kept me busy for a decade.
над яким я працювала десятиліття.
щоб зробити її мутною,
with the bathwater to make it cloudy
що я не могла дочекатись, коли почну малювати.
I couldn't wait to paint it.
kind of impulsive curiosity,
що додати:
на голову і волосся,
in my head and hair
з більш ніж чотирма розетками.
with more than four outlets.
та надихали одна одну.
and inspiring each other.
він намалював цю картину,
who made this painting
і він сказав:
ти вже більше не дитина,
into adulthood, you're no longer a child,
by the responsibilities of life."
and it was in her brain.
я впала на коліна.
і глянула на неї,
and I looked at her,
how to help her.
having him in charge,
що він про все подбав,
добре, як тільки міг.
taking care of her.
усім чим могла.
everything I could to help,
Ти мені будеш потрібна пізніше".
I'm going to need you later."
не знають,
and the internet didn't know:
якщо сама намагатимусь якось зарадити,
and whatever situation came up,
then now I was surrendering,
то тепер піддалася,
the uncontrollable
що не піддається контролю,
into bed with her and sleep with her.
і спала з нею.
як наближається його машина.
his car coming up the driveway.
брала за обидві руки,
який сама зробила,
for breakfast.
з прісного тіста.
навіть на секунду.
мої брати з дітьми,
and bring their kids,
we could find to drink her coffee.
яку ми знайшли, щоб пити каву.
щоб допомагати їй приймати душ.
to help me with the showers.
after her diagnosis.
supportive and attentive way.
дбаючи про маму.
сімейне життя змінилося,
all together in this unknown,
у незвіданому,
наодинці в майстерні.
of my time alone in a studio working,
таким цілющим.
for me to go back to my studio.
у майстерню.
and I drove back to Brooklyn,
і повернулася у Бруклін,
so that's what I did.
адже я цим займалася раніше.
що нуртувало в моїй душі.
that was unraveling in me.
безпечне місце,
rendered safe place
I didn't want to paint anymore.
не хотіла більше малювати.
and I wasn't a landscape painter,
але я не була пейзажистом,
much of any kind of painter at all,
до жодного типу художників,
схильностей чи очікувань,
бути сміливою і вільною.
It didn't matter. It didn't matter.
Яка різниця?
back to my studio,
що відбувається.
that were fascinating me,
the paint like I used to.
як колись.
and suggesting,
chaotic, turbulent surface
хаотична, бурхлива поверхня
as I was when I was a student.
як колись.
to put figures in these paintings, people,
фігури, людей,
both people and this atmosphere.
як це зробити,
what I've been working on.
над чим я працювала.
це буде анонс
and it's like a preview, I guess,
те, що найважливішим для мене є
what matters most to me,
where there's no resisting or controlling.
де нема контролю.
big losses in our lives,
великі втрати:
are out of our control.
непідконтрольні нам.
to find something beautiful
знайти щось красиве
непередбачуваному
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