Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Miriam Escofet’s Esoteric Paintings of Idyllic Worlds

Miriam Escofet creates rich oil paintings of idyllic scenes that nostalgically allude to classical antiquity. Perhaps the only notes of pessimism in these sumptuous depictions of ornate architecture, statues and jewels is that Escofet's heavenly world seem to be nearly devoid of human inhabitants. This is a place that seems to belong to the gods — too perfect for mortals. Escofet originally studied 3D design and set out to be a ceramicist, which explains her attention to texture and volume. Each crease of fabric and crevice within a tree's bark is rendered with precision. Light and shadow are greatly contrasted to a level beyond what we normally experience with the human eye, making Escofet's fictional lands seem vivid yet illusory.

Miriam Escofet creates rich oil paintings of idyllic scenes that nostalgically allude to classical antiquity. Perhaps the only notes of pessimism in these sumptuous depictions of ornate architecture, statues and jewels is that Escofet’s heavenly world seem to be nearly devoid of human inhabitants. This is a place that seems to belong to the gods — too perfect for mortals. Escofet originally studied 3D design and set out to be a ceramicist, which explains her attention to texture and volume. Each crease of fabric and crevice within a tree’s bark is rendered with precision. Light and shadow are greatly contrasted to a level beyond what we normally experience with the human eye, making Escofet’s fictional lands seem vivid yet illusory.


Detail


Detail

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Peter Howson’s raw scenes have long brought us reflections on both the endurance and worst of humanity. Often, his scenes have offered looks into his Glasglow upbringing, as well as paintings teeming with the spiritual contemplations that have been part of his personal life. In a recent show at Roger Billcliffe Gallery, new mixed-media drawings and oil paintings offer his latest, absorbing, muscular scenes.
Longtime followers of Japanese artist Kazuki Takamatsu may already know his process: painstaking gouache layers that recreate scenes first imagined on 3-D computer software. Yet, in his latest set of striking paintings at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, the otherworldy nature of Takamatsu's work is what again draws viewers into this haunted world of hologram-like characters. The solo show “Decoration Armament" opens this Saturday, and it features some of the HF Vol. 33 cover artist’s most ambitious and engrossing work yet.
Minimal and quiet, Brian Robertson’s artworks seem to be both a homage to cubism and other various abstract art movements, and to our curious obsession with space and the universe. Going against typical physiognomy, the LA-based artist dissembles people and objects with clean acrylic shapes and lines juxtaposed with controlled dashes of spray paint. Looking closer, you’ll also notice that various portals appear in his work — a black hole doorway to a starry universe, a triangular cut-out through which a blue line travels — perhaps a commentary on the loneliness of the human condition and the vast wonder of the universe. On a more humorous level, Robertson names every one of his people or objects with tongue-in-cheek titles such as Mr Pot-Head Worm-Mouth or Mr Yellow-Brick Shit-House.
Caroline Westerhout’s cerebral paintings are selective in rendering aspects of the body faithfully, otherwise distorting the female form and offering unexpected textures. Though this may bring disconcerting results, each of the works carry a vulnerable and honest quality.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List