Brooklyn-based painter Alyssa Monks simulates a distorted view of people as seen through a steamy glass pane, condensed with water droplets. Monks' expressive and somewhat sensual body of work showcases her masterful abilities at producing photorealistic oil paintings while simultaneously featuring an artistic point of view. By creating a humid environment beyond a separating translucent surface for her subjects to hide behind, peer through, and push up against, the painter increases the ways in which she can play with shape and form; thereby, piquing the audience's interest.
Monks says, “Using filters such as glass, vinyl, water, and steam, I distort the body in shallow painted spaces. These filters allow for large areas of abstract design – islands of color with activated surfaces – while bits of the human form peak [sic] through. In a contemporary take on the traditional bathing women, my subjects are pushing against the glass ‘window', distorting their own body, aware of and commanding the proverbial male gaze.”
