This body of work started in the Covid Lockdown of 2020. Trapped at home for days on end, my sweet escape was to go to a local university where I taught classes. The college was like a ghost town, and the art building was virtually deserted. I began to pull out and assemble my favorite mannequins, and spend time thinking about these mysterious, human-like objects we use to approximate the human form. They became my strange new company. The older models wear the many scars of being hastily moved from one room to another. Cracks, bruises, and discoloration decorate their limbless bodies. Both matched and miss-matched arms and legs awkwardly attach to these plastic, helpless torsos. Unseeing eyes, some remarkably penetrating, seem to hold secrets no one will ever know. Mouths that will never speak, noses that will never smell- these pitiable plastic forms allowed me to speak through them.
This series started with watercolors on Double Elephant sized watercolor paper. In the last few months, I have switched to oil paint on canvas. I continue to focus on drawing, spatial development, and color interaction. I am lately enjoying the thick and viscous, even sculptural qualities of oil paint. I continue to learn about the physical characteristics of pigments and oil and explore the expansive qualities of this medium.
About the Artist
Greg McLemore lives in Towson, Maryland. His art employs the idea of Magical Realism as a starting point to explore the tragic, mysterious, and often comical aspects of life. His art practice fluctuates between drawing, watercolor, and oil painting. Greg earned a Master of Fine Arts at The University of Arizona in 2003 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts at The University of North Carolina Asheville in 1999. He exhibits his work both regionally and nationally. Recent publications and awards include inclusion in New American Paintings, South, 2019 and Artist of the Year, 2019 with Limner Gallery/ Slow Art Productions in NY. Greg was a semifinalist for the 2016 Sondheim Prize and was awarded Individual Artist Grants in Painting by the Maryland State Arts Council in 2016 and 2019.Featured Work
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