Double Portrait (Moon), oil on canvas

Becky Kolsrud was born in Los Angeles, California, and is currently based there where she creates works of painting and mixed media with a focus on representations of women. Kolsrud often draws from stock or catalogue images as visual inspiration for her figures, creating artworks with a sense of tension between advertising constructs and organic forms.

Heads and Gates (installation view at Tif Sigfrids, Los Angeles)

Kolsrud’s recent portraits are painted in a loose, gestural manner that sometimes sees the outlines of multiple faces painted into a space that should only contain one. The resulting images are slightly bizarre and warrant more than a passing glance to parse all the information contained within. Though very different in terms of style, Kolsrud’s treatment of the female figure reminds me of the critical works of Elizabeth Zvonar.

A number of Kolsrud’s portraits are painted on cut-out, face-shaped boards, creating tension between the medium of painting and sculpture – viewers must ask whether the form of the canvas or the actual painting is the more important aspect to the creation of the image.

Heads and Gates (installation view at Tif Sigfrid's, Los Angeles)