Through a liquid lens, gorgeous flower-wreathed females gasp for air from below the water's surface. Their hands and spindly limbs cling to bright and exotic floral arrangements as their bodies are ravished by lapping waves. Kari-Lise Alexander's sublimely saturated paintings, part of a series called WAKE, are disturbingly beautiful. With just a glinting, sideway glance, Alexander's painterly females have no trouble connecting with the viewer. Their relaxed forms are both provocative and vulnerable, and the aesthetic is reminiscent of the folklore-inspired paintings of Swedish artist John Bauer.
Alexander, who resides in Seattle, draws on her own Nordic background to instill deep-felt emotions into her paintings, drawing narrative inspiration from moments of transformation within Scandinavian folktales. Take a look at a few canvases from WAKE below:
Surface. All images courtesy the artist
Cathedral
Night Gardens
Stag I
Wake
Kari-Lise Alexander's show WAKE (Project Room) runs from April 1–22, 2017 at Thinkspace Gallery in Culver City. Find more information on the exhibition page, here.
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