Bio
Micky Kurtzman is a Minneapolis based artist currently studying for her BFA at the University of Minnesota. She began drawing and painting as a way to understand the physical world around her, and has since expanded her practice to include sculpture and digital media. After briefly studying in New York City, Kurtzman returned to her roots in Minneapolis to continue her art education. Here, she has developed work with themes of female empowerment, intimacy and sexuality, and object based memory. Inspiration for this work comes from the artist’s desire to create a world she finds beautiful, as she is not satisfied with her current one. Besides drawing from the objects around her, Kurtzman turns towards artists such as Sylvia Sleigh, Henri Matisse, Ana Popescu, and Emililo Villalba for inspiration.
Artist Statement
I am a painter not by choice, but by necessity. I paint for many reasons, the first of which is color. Oil paint is the purest physical form of color and the most intuitive to work with. I tend to use only primary colors, and personally mix any secondary colors. This physical relationship with my medium is important to me as I want to be able to control and understand it to the fullest extent so that I can communicate my artistic ideas without hesitation. The materiality of oil paint is intriguing to me as well. Its extended drying time allows me to build thick textures or blend into a gradient, and I appreciate and utilize this versatility in my work. I believe in order to truly extend the qualities of oil paint one must have a substantial canvas to work on. I feel most comfortable working on 30” x 40” canvases, both so that I have enough room to include my concepts, and have enough room to move around. I don’t like to feel restricted in any sense, especially physical. As I paint I engage my entire body. This is important so that each piece is a proper reflection of myself and my process, and because it is a way to relax and stretch my muscles and familiarize myself with my body.
My artwork is a hedonistic practice. I use painting as a form of escapism, it separates myself from reality and allows me to forget all of the problems I have. Therefore, the content of my work is based solely on the things that make me happy or satisfied. My work begins by a specific feeling I want to evoke, firstly in myself but consequently the viewer. Color is the first thing a viewer notices in a painting, you can see it from across a gallery. Therefore I first choose my palette to suit the emotion, usually resulting in bright pastels. The forms I choose to represent these feelings are then chosen through a selfish process. I paint what I want to see in this world. Or, things I have seen and thought already held beauty. As an artist, I have the power to create. I can use this energy to create ugly things, remind myself of the unpleasant reality. Instead, I create the world I desire. Of course aesthetic beauty is subjective, but that’s the point. I believe an artist’s work should be a manifestation of their true inner desires, without influence from the outside world.
Because of its hedonistic qualities, my work is an intimate self portrait. My paintings tend to fall into one of two traditional categories, either still life or portrait. If I am painting a still life, I choose the objects based on the actual things I surround myself with. I am fascinated by clutter, and consider myself somewhat of a hoarder of objects. I like to use still life as an informal portrait, one without any human forms. In some ways, this portrait may be a truer representation of myself than an actual image of me. That being said, I often paint myself as well. I don’t have constant access to models, so if I have a specific composition in mind I must be my own model. I have a tenuous relationship with the physical space I occupy, and repeatedly painting myself and displaying these images to near strangers has been a kind of accidental therapy. Over time I’ve become more comfortable with this process and in turn has allowed me to become more comfortable with myself. That is what is most important to me — that whatever I am creating is bringing me peace and satisfaction. If my art does neither of those things, I’d consider it a failure.