I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from the University of Illinois in Springfield, Illinois, in 2008 and have exhibited my work both locally and nationally. My compositions reference both classical and contemporary symbolism and iconography. While the primary motivation behind my work is to tease out the nuanced emotions embedded within the human condition and to confront isolation and anxiety born of gender-based stereotypes, I also look to comment on the contradiction between creating realistic imagery and portraying emotional rawness, as well as the uncompromised truth in the imagery portrayed versus it’s symbolic ambiguity. My most recent work includes paintings of women in a variety of positions with flowers coming out of their backs, balancing on their foreheads, or covering their faces. In these works, I aim to address the emotional and societal pressure to conform to a certain ideal that women face, as well as my interest in the symbolic duality of flowers as fragile, beautiful and sexual but also strong, persistent and adaptable.
© Amanda Greive | Artist Biography, Artworks & Gallery | www.amandagreive.com
