Erin McGee Ferrell
Artist Statement 2014
Born and raised in Kentucky, my core is bluegrass and colored quilts. I am culturally Nigerian though Irish in race. Educated in Massachusetts, I am a classically trained artist with a liberal arts foundation. Years of painting in Philadelphia awakened my love for architectural subjects. Now I paint on the wharfs of Portland, Maine, surrounded by water and big sky.
My large oil paintings capture the intersection of Urban and Coastal structures. These works depict the geometry of architecture such as fire escapes and ship masts. The subjects describe to the viewer how architecture and landscape merge. Forms on the water such as bridges and old pilings become valid landscape shifts. I focus on the negative space surrounding the architectural objects. The air with in the geometric shapes of ships’ rigging and bridge trusses. My goal is to challenge the viewer to reverse the negative space to positive shape. The air that surrounds the shape becomes the solid. That which seems invisible provides the structure.
My style has been described as Figurative expressionism. I always work from life, merging complex colors and bold strokes into the oil paintings. The foundations of my paintings are always drawing based and color palette exploration is my passion. Intuitively I am a true colorist and a confirmed lifelong oil painter.

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