Fri 11/18 @ 5-9PM
Arabella Proffer became known for her portraits that had an edge of surrealism, with their hyper-realistic depictions of characters who embodied fantastic and conflicting elements.
Her diagnosis with a rare cancer 6 years ago in her early 30s began to inform her work and has now led her away from figurative painting into abstraction. With their strange and colorful designs that resemble micro-organisms out of control.
In her artist statement accompanying her first exhibit of these paintings, titled “Biomorphic Garden Party, she writes, “This series brings together my interests in botany, microbiology, monsters, space, disease and the evolution of cells. I explore the particular roles that organisms, medicine, DNA and hybrids play, all while creating from my own imagination and instinct. Shaping aesthetic outcomes of these paintings doesn’t come from research or re-creating what already exists; I create my own nature within these little worlds. If cells and viruses can look beautiful when magnified, I wonder what organisms on other planets look like? Is there something bigger we are a part of? What will these cells look like 10 days later — what about 10 million years later?”
The show goes on view at the HEDGE Gallery at 78th Street Studios during Third Friday.