New Feature Exhibition Opens in March February 16 2022
A Woman's Prerogative:
Artwork by Christine Peloquin
On View: March 5 - 26, 2022
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 5, 4-7 PM
Artists Talk: Friday, March 25, 11 AM
Image: Christine Peloquin, Solace, oils on wood panel, 36 x 48 inches
About the Exhibition
Christine Peloquin is known for her mixed-media paintings, which combine drawing and painting on fabric and paper collage, depicting women, children, and landscapes. For Peloquin's fourth solo exhibition at Arts on Douglas, she has found literary inspiration that has influenced her to create a new series of expressive paintings of and about women.
About this body of work, Peloquin explains, "In 2021, I read 10 books by women authors that resonated with me so deeply, that their writings began to profoundly change me and my art practice. I was so inspired, I wanted to create characters and portraits that would exemplify the authors’ ideas and concepts.” As she reflected on the insights of these literary works, she carefully selected quotes that inspired her and then created a painting to reveal her interpretation. For the exhibition, Peloquin will include the quotes alongside the paintings so the viewer can contemplate the relationship. “I wanted to make the authors’ words visual, so I could discuss them in my language, through my medium.”
The books inspired Peloquin in diverse ways and this can be seen in her unique approach to each painting. For example, in the piece titled Let it Burn, Peloquin creates a four-panel mixed-media acrylic and charcoal collage that, combined, depicts a portrait of a strong and confident woman. For this piece, Peloquin was inspired by American author and activist, Glennon Doyle’s book Untamed, in which the last line reads,
“A woman who is full of herself knows and trusts herself enough to say and do what must be done. She lets the rest burn.”
In contrast, Peloquin’s piece titled Solace is a more somber portrait. Instead of collage, she opted to create a realistic oil painting with radiant angled lighting, highlighting the profile of a pensive woman reclining in a bath. The quote that inspired this piece was from Susan Monk Kidd’s, The Book of Longings,
“All my life, longings lived inside of me, rising up like nocturnes to wail and sing through the night.”
As a whole, the paintings in this exhibition capture a range of emotions and expressions, from quirky and playful to quiet and contemplative, showing a wide arc of emotional qualities. Both the literary works and her paintings “are about unlearning the stories of women that have been told through a patriarchal lens for centuries, and replace it with a new narrative, from a woman’s point of view.”
Images:
Christine Peloquin, Let it Burn, mixed-media acrylics on wood panel, 72 x 72 inches
Christine Peloquin, Eartha Kitt, mixed-media acrylics on wood panel, 24 x 24 inches
About the Artist
Christine Peloquin is a 2-D mixed media artist based in Sorrento, Florida, known for her mixed-media fabrications that incorporate many different materials including charcoal, acrylics, oils, watercolors, monoprints, found objects, photo transfers, fabrics, and papers.
Christine has been teaching her mixed media techniques since 2009 and offers workshops in Central Florida and across the US. She has been selling her artwork in galleries and festivals around the country for 30 years. She has been published in numerous books and magazines such as Somerset Studio, Studio Visit, and American Art Collector. Just recently, she self-published her first children’s book with her mixed media and watercolor paintings called If You Could Tell Time, What Would You Tell It?.