Page 49 - Vol. VII #7
P. 49
ve as
Bennett prefers painting from life, observing how light hits objects. In searching for an ap- proach to make narrative paintings, she initially worked with dolls and dollhouse furniture until she discovered model railroad miniatures. For the past 15+ years, she has been working at that scale or even smaller, constructing model houses and interiors using cardboard, foam, wood, paint, and glue. She re-uses models, repainting and reconfig- uring/reconstructing as needed. They do not form a literal mappable neighborhood, but a feel for an entire community confronting similar issues, with a story behind every door.
“In this series, Nuclear Family, I have used a con- sistently tiny scale, with figures measuring about an inch tall. The size of the painting is dictated by the space around the figures, so interiors are only a couple of square inches while landscapes are necessarily larger. The small scale reduces the detail to the essential expressions of the poses and the relationship between the figures. It also establishes a more intimate connection with the viewer, who must get close enough to become a fly on the wall.”
courtesy of the Brattleboro
useum M
Delivery
oil on panel 5'' x 7 1/2′′
42
