Location: United States
Born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. Arika has situated herself within art history’s portrait painting tradition. With a strong focus on raw intimacy, she seeks to narrate the small yet significantly honest moments in life. By exposing the haunting beauty of her subjects, she reveals her unfiltered embracement of the flawed within the canvas. This is apparent not only in Arika’s subject matter, but also in the bold color usage and strong brushwork. The way she pushes paint across the canvas exhibits her search for the intimate unraveling.
My oil paintings are raw intimate moments that often go unnoticed but not forgotten. I seek to create an unfiltered narrative through the subject’s honest embracement of their flaws. By reimagining my subject’s most exposed moments I attempt to go deeper into our lives and peel back the layers. The bold color and brushwork is intended to touch at the subjects personality and relationship with their environment and the world at large. My recent work focuses on the idea of embracement; how we embrace ourselves, each other and life.
Oil on Canvas
28in x 36in
2015
Oil on Canvas
24in x 32in
2014
Oil on Canvas
24in x 36in
2014
Oil on Found Wood
2ft x 7ft
2014
Conte and Gold leafing on cardboard
20in x 30in
2014
“plus la modification de plus le même”
Oil on Canvas
38in x 26in
2014
Work in Progress
Oil on Canvas
24in x 36in
2015
In my attempt to capture intimate moments, I found I could go no further without asking myself: "What is the most honest, raw, and intimate subject I could possibly paint?" This was my answer.
Oil on Canvas
12in x 12in
2015
Oil on Canvas
12in x 12in
2015
Oil on Canvas
12in x 12in
2015
Oil on Canvas
12in x 12in
2015
All Oil on Canvas
All 12in x 12in
2015
“Flynn and Lauren”
“Pull”
“Rachel”
“Thursday Night”
“Dominican Gold”
“Icon”
“Artist's Self Portrait #1”
“Artist's Self Portrait #4”
“Artist's Self Portrait #2”
“Artist's Self Portrait #9”
“Artist's Self Portrait #7”
“Set of Self Portraits ”
