Erika Stearly
N. 3rd St. Dekalb, IL

16 x 20 inches
Watercolor and acrylic on panel
2021

Named using the street address of the residences depicted, Erika Stearly's art depicts the spaces where people live. Convinced that multiple approaches to painting are valid, the imagery in her work balances an impulse to faithfully render household objects against the emphasis on the hand of the artist. The combination of abstraction and representation romanticizes these spaces in a way that invites the viewer to construct their own narrative of the scene. 

Over the years, she has developed a mixed media technique that allows her to combine the characteristics of watercolor and acrylic paint. Delicate shapes can quickly be sketched in or large blocks of color can be refined with watercolor pencils. The heavier-bodied acrylic paint can fully cover existing passages and retains its brushstrokes. Using both types of paint together produces a more nuanced range of painterly effects.

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