Working With Passion and Playfulness
The top three award winners and honorable mention winners in the Acrylic Works 9 Competition demonstrate the creative potential of the medium.
Paintings often show the point where the passion for the subject and the passion for the medium intersect, and this is one area that the winners in the AcrylicWorks 9 competition gleefully explore. The medium’s viscosity and fast drying time make for a record of the brushstroke, affording the painters the ability to create layers, but also to work with a quick sense of immediacy. The result brings to light the love of the subject and the love of the craft.
For each work, the term “matter” works two ways—as the difference between the matter that makes the painting and the matter that inspired it becomes perfectly mixed. Whether it’s the momentary pause of a dog’s gaze rendered in visceral brushstrokes in Jinhee Park’s Fred, a fleeting glimpse of space layered beneath a garden in Susan Martin’s Galaxy, or an image of waves crashing to the shore but frozen in time in Anda Styler’s Ocean Energy, each work captures the ephemeral nature of the subject in a medium that works equally well as a foundation and a facade. The result is depth, balanced with an occasional fit of whimsy.
The juror for this year’s contest, Patti Mollica, drew this comparison of acrylic to other mediums: “Acrylics bring out the playful, expressive, impatient child in me in a way that none of the others do.”
To enjoy a showcase of all 113 winning works, check out the Fall 2023 digital edition of The Best of Acrylics
First Place
Jinhee Park’s Fred
“I’ve painted lots of animals, ranging from dogs and cats to a dragon lizard, most of which were done in acrylic. However, I believe Fred is more than just a flat surface covered with orderly pigments. Every visual element on the canvas exquisitely conveys his mannerisms and the attitude of the 1960s.”
Second Place
Susan Martin’s Galaxy
“As I painted the dark leaves in the foreground with the sparkle of tiny blossoms in the distance, the depth of layers suggested a path through the heavens, and I came to see this composition as a galaxy.”
Third Place
Anda Styler’s Ocean Energy
“I applied what I’ve learned from plein air painting, drawing from my imagination and my personal connection to the place. It brings the power of emotion into my work.”
Honorable Mention: Chris Klein’s Exits and Entrances
“I moved around the canvas a lot, keeping everything balanced. Using many glazes, I pushed the shadows back to bring out more highlights. The end result can look photographic from a distance, but with closer inspection, the viewer sees that I retained the brushstrokes and utilized the weave of the canvas.”
Honorable Mention: Angela Bandurka’s Chromatophilia
“While I love painting with a limited palette—all of the main elements in this piece were painted with just six hues—the paint and pigments called out for a wider range of color. The vibrant colors against the built-in cabinetwork at L. Cornelissen & Son, in London, England, are what drew me to this scene.”
Honorable Mention: Laura Crockett’s Sunday Night
“Sunday Night was inspired by my mother and sister—my mother, who looked for representation in all forms of media and art, and my sister, who hated getting her hair done. This image captures the mundane yet significant, and the art is intended to be a celebration of moments often overlooked.”
Honorable Mention: Heather Karp’s My Refuge No. 2
“I wanted my painting to be about the quiet beauty of the marsh set on top of the chaotic beauty of my mind—weaving color, line and texture through an abstracted landscape, inviting the viewers to widen their view of reality and ‘see’ between the lines what lies beneath and between the layers of not only a painting but also a person.”
Honorable Mention: Marguerite Chadwick-Juner’s Reef Music—The Violinist II
“Reef Music—The Violinist II is one of an ongoing series of paintings that are driven by my awareness of the deterioration of the world’s reefs and the pollution of its oceans. The series is a literal, visual representation of the idea that all human beings must connect to the reefs and oceans to understand that their preservation is critical to our own survival.”
Honorable Mention: Keith Goodson’s Tea Time
“To start this painting, I carefully set up this silver tea set in a well-lit area. I then took hundreds of photos at different angles with various lighting setups. I selected several images that fit the vision and composition I was looking for.”
Honorable Mention: Aili Kurtis’s Levitation
“When I create art, I want to portray what is behind reality and to emphasize the underlying patterns and rhythms in nature rather than just reproduce what’s obvious as a surface appearance.”
Honorable Mention: Marla Thirsk’s I Must Go Down to the Sea Again
“I’ve worked in acrylic exclusively for more than 30 years. I love the texture and design elements that it provides, and this versatility has greatly encouraged my exploration of the medium. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with adding small elements of collage that I paint over. It adds a certain depth to the painting that I find visually pleasing.”
Honorable Mention: Jennifer L. Sowders’s Riverbend
“Because I wasn’t expecting a certain outcome and wasn’t under any pressure, I gleefully painted Riverbend straight from the tube, applied with palette knives. This wasn’t something I’d ever tried before, but it left me undone. Texture had always been an element that felt like a secret crush. I loved it but was hesitant—never feeling brave enough to attempt it.”
Honorable Mention: Marco Antonio Aguilar’s Buffalo Soldier
“With multiple fine brushes, a magnifying glass and 150 hours of dedication, I painted thousands of hairs to create Buffalo Soldier. The magnificent American bison was the perfect vehicle to refine my technique because it displays many different types of hair, from curly to shaggy.”
To enjoy a showcase of all 113 winning works, check out the Fall 2023 digital edition of The Best of Acrylics
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