Artworks
About
As a process-based artist inspired by Earth’s ever-changing surface, Renee Phillips explores the manipulation of paint, and layering of color, to achieve sculptural-like results.
Before applying each layer of latex onto larger wood panels, Phillips studies the colors ability to be manipulated on smaller panels called Meditation Studies. “They’re called this because I sit and watch paint dry for hours… some colors take 2 hours to dry and others can take 12 hours. Each color has what I call a ‘signature effect’ when manipulated – some droop, others ripple, crack or pool off the surface. I’m interested in navigating the line between painting and sculpture.”
Phillips said “most recently, I’ve been strongly influenced by the ‘Overview Effect’; a state of mental clarity, and a cognitive shift in awareness, reported by some astronauts during spaceflight when viewing Earth from above. Employing alchemical techniques with enamel, latex and spray paint I aim to abstract aerial imagery garnered from NASA satellite imagery.” stated Phillips. Paint materials are then combined with a critical process-orienting act: the addition of wind, water or gravity.”
Renee Phillips was born in Boca Raton, Florida and received her BFA from the University of Miami, Florida, continuing her art education at the University of Paris, France, and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She is highly influenced by her surrounding environment and notes her upbringing on the beaches of Florida, and mountains of Colorado, that helped shape her lifelong interest in the macro and micro visuals of the Earth’s surface. In her most recent series, she draws from color patterns engrained in her memory, from the Ocean’s tidal flow to Everglades sunsets; bougainvillea to cloud compositions.
Recent shows internationally include the DeJi Museum, China and Kunstwerk Gallerie Berlin, Germany,; national shows include the Coral Springs Art Museum, Soho House West Hollywood, CA, Aqua Art Miami, Pen & Brush NYC, and Muriel Guepin Gallery, New York City. Phillips is currently an Artist in Residence at the Arts Warehouse in Delray Beach, FL.