Less about the paint, more about the process: this is the approach Erica Vhay finds herself adopting at this moment. Letting the steps surface, she starts with a wash of paint, a gesture that effortlessly captures organic grace. “It’s reminiscent of the earth and the perfect, uncontrolled beauty of nature,” she says. Then, by painting a controlled figurative image atop the wash, she explores the relationship between humans and nature. In this juxtaposition, she hopes to stir existential questions: “How often do we truly connect to that natural perfection, and let it become a large part of our lives and what we create?”
Washes have always been an important initial step in her process, but never so evidenced in the finished painting. Now mindfully building her backgrounds, she’s adding more layers and amplifying the texture. This treatment gives the wash—and its metaphor of nature—greater presence. “There’s a dream-like quality to the background, which contrasts the figure in the foreground as reality."