Shelah Horvitz’s work explores who we are, where we’ve been and our relationship to the world. “I look for wonder and mystery, and invite contemplation of the world beyond that permeates ours.
The Witness, oil on linen mounted on panel, 24 x 36"“I started the series Beyond thinking about the influence of our ancestors who shaped us, whether we knew them or not,” she continues, explaining that the model in the paintings is wearing her great-grandmother’s wedding gown, which is now ripped and wrinkled and doesn’t fit her properly because it is not hers. “This beautiful distressed dress, worn then and now in the wilderness, lets us viscerally consider what we have inherited, for good and for bad, what we want to perpetuate and what to change in our future.”
Shabbos (When the Veil is Thin), oil on panel, 30 x 40"
Horvitz then turns to what we are looking for when we yearn for a world beyond, exploring the role of messengers, angels and guides. “I paint realistically because frankly, I always wanted to from the time I was a child,” she says. Her mother was an artist and she grew up surrounded by books about Rembrandt, Michelangelo, the Wyeths, Winslow Homer, the Symbolists and others.
The Visit, oil on panel, 48 x 36"
“I poured over them and studied them,” she says. “I studied my mother’s art school anatomy texts, practiced with her supplies and wandered museums with her. I learned young that drawing and painting were my best tools to dive into a subject and deeply understand it. I don’t paint photo-realistically because my goal is not to emulate a photograph, but to investigate reality itself. I paint to find out how to live.”
Shelah Horvitz will showcase her series Beyond in an upcoming show at Stone Sparrow NYC from November 9 through December 17, with and opening reception on November 9 from 6 to 9 p.m. —
Want to See More?
www.shelah-horvitz-art.com
(207) 585-2241
Represented by Stone Sparrow NYC
45 Greenwich Avenue | New York, NY 10014
www.stonesparrownyc.com
(646) 449-8004
Instagram: @shelah.horvitz
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