Lanise Howard

Lanise Howard Artist Statement

 I am interested in the analogous world, hidden histories, and the digital space. My work ranges from portraiture to large, allegorical, figurative paintings. The work often lies inbetween differing states of being. I aim to create new spaces through paint, where the viewer can become transported. I often think about the analogous world; one which is related to our own, but can be a space of new possibility. In my experience as an African American woman, I find myself thinking of an alternative to that experience, one rooted in the necessity to rewrite history. The idea of change then becomes an element of the work, enacted through the dreamed space. My work often presents hypotheses and tries to offer possible answers, through engagement and inquiry. I am primarily interested in the figure and landscape. Elements of realism and abstraction juxtapose against each other, in order to offer a peak into the in between, beyond what we can usually see. I am ebbing towards this space of the in-between and the analogous, finding ways to help construct it materially.

 These works explore this idea of the afterlife. Inspired by a dream, where I felt like I was being told about the place that we all come from; The place of origin. The works explore excerpts of this origin story, told through figurative works, as well as works that have elements of abstraction.