Artist Portfolios

                                        Tracy Duran

                                        Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting,

                                        University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, NV

                                        Master of Fine Arts, Painting

                                        California State University, Fullerton. Fullerton, CA

                                        The dichotomy between the similarities and differences that exist between the human body and nature leads me to the question;

                                        what is the body as landscape? For me, it is the physical contour of the body, a tree or the overlapping of organic forms upon

                                        themselves or on to another body, human or otherwise. It is the abstraction that takes place within a fragment, the way the fold of

                                        an arm overlapping a breast suggests the petal of a flower or genitalia. The body like nature consists of flesh, cavities and orifices.

                                        The body's external form possesses the physical contour of a landscape but within its flesh, blood and bones the cavity becomes

                                        as entangled as the flora, vines and foliage within the rain forest. Reminiscent of the rainforest the internal organs are entrapped by

                                        the flesh and bones, supporting the energy and systems it entombs. Even though a fragment of the body still contains the familiarity

                                        of its silhouette, the abstraction masks its natural state as if it had undergone a metamorphosis. The result becomes sensual and

                                        grotesque, defined and abstract as well as beautiful and menacing. Although the body and nature may anthropomorphize, it never

                                        suggests a narrative or tells a story. Organic forms, landscape, flesh, cavities, the body, sensuality and sexuality .

                                        My artwork is driven by process and medium. I create paintings by layering visual information. I destroy areas that I have already

                                        painted and then repaint them, bringing parts “back out”, leaving evidence of the history of what was once there. This process of

                                        reworking areas causes the actual subject to take on a life of its own, and appear to grow from within the painted surface. Through

                                        the physicality of the process of painting, I establish a connection with the human body and a painted body that appears to have

                                       movement. My methods appear obsessive and sensual, and are driven by the seductive act of painting with oil pigments, brushes,

                                       rags and fingers. My paintings are the residue of my process, and allow me to embrace notions of beauty and the relationship

                                       between my subject matter, content and conceptual drive.

top of page