Philadelphia-based artist Maria Teicher’s latest body of work focuses on portraits and narrative paintings that feature disturbing yet delicate compositions. Each tells stories based on personal experiences in a very concise yet mysterious way. The open-ended yet evocative works give viewers a space to relate and “bring one’s own experiences into each piece.” In an effort to convey sentiments of suffering or powerlessness, Teicher’s portraits often disguise, constrict and deform the human face. In her latest paintings, she tightly veils her subjects with clear or opaque plastic bags, playing with her audience’s boundaries and fears.
Being both a painter and a photographer, Teicher takes inspiration from the realism found in the latter. With a glossy effect and a tight brushstroke, the artist manages to bring details to life in a way that is realistic yet part of an uncanny narrative. She particularly looks to display historical and personal symbolic artifacts that connect the painting’s mood to that of the feelings that belong to whomever she has in mind while at work, though the final result is open to interpretation.
