Boston, Massachusetts-based artist Katelyn Ledford refers to her eclectic still life paintings as portraits — not of specific people, but rather “portraits of universal and autobiographical reflections on the complex and often painful reality of what it means to be a woman and artist.” A self-described jack-of-all-trades and DIY junky, Ledford’s interests are apparent in her deconstructed portrait paintings, which explore the myriad ways in which we view and interact with the world in the 21st century. She elaborates:

“Resolution and application of images and materials fluctuate from trompe-l’oeil and photorealism to textural impasto and squeezing paint from the tube in order to play with authenticity and truthfulness with myself and the viewer. Everything is up for grabs in our whiplash emotional, political, social, and art worlds. I want the tone of my paintings to sit with this and lie in a mix of cynicism, humor, and absurdist logic — like the feeling of sucking on a sour candy, you smile through the pain and pleasure.”

See more from Katelyn Ledford below!