Artist 29: Jenny Saville

Drawing heavily from classical tradition, Patricia Watwood creates figural paintings which fuse renaissance and contemporary aesthetics together. To this extent, many of her works depict "mythological, allegorical, and narrative themes" as well as ancient Greek motifs and color schemes. As far as her contemporary influence, it is evident that her figures are painted anatomically correct and appear less archetypal than renaissance figures. Clearly, her models are unique examples of real-life people rather than heavily idealized figures. According to her artist statement, the recurring theme in her work is "the spiritual human presence of the subjects in the paintings."

 What I like most about her work is that it appears fresh and new despite the myriad classical references and color schemes. The realistic portrayal of the figures in combination with the traditional style gives her art a nice balance that is aesthetically pleasing, familiar, and fresh all at the same time. 

Her website may be found here.