Audrey Kawasaki
Audrey Kawasaki is an emerging Los Angeles artist known for her wood panel oil paintings of young, adolescent girls often in very eroticized positions. I have been in love with her work ever since I stumbled upon them on a random art blog online. At first I was very intrigued by the expressions of the girls she is portraying which is a mix of youthful apathy and sensual hubris with a touch of mischief.
However, where Kawasaki excels is in her ability to play with Gestalt unity in her paintings. The panel above shows a pair of disembodied arms but as one looks at it, the continuation from the girl’s body is unmistakable. The brain creates the unity even though it is not there. All she has to do is suggest it. Most of her paintings even goes so far as to feature only a part of the girl but, as is the case for the image below, one can still see her entire body gracefully flowing way beyond the wooden medium. Another Gestalt element in which a part speaks for the whole.
I think her style of continuation and her fluid omission of body parts make for a very interesting painting. It’s not easy to portray dismembered girls in a sensual manner.
