Portrait of the Artist is an exhibition of works by Liana Finck that center on “the artist,” the artistic process, artistic responsibility and the act of creation. Known for her cartoons that distill the complexities of life into seemingly simple drawings, her smart authentic voice helps us hone in on our own raw emotions and provides a salve through the relatability of difficult times. Finck has provided a window into her own life as an artist in her published books and her Instagram posts. Her cartoons are self-portraiture, autobiography and a reflection of the place of the artist in society. She never shies away from describing the vulnerability, anxiety and regret that artists encounter – and must embrace – in order to share with us the magic that is artistic creation.
The exhibition features works over the past decade of a self-described emerging artist. Self-deprecating and witty, Finck dives into the challenges of finding her place in the art world as a cartoonist and balancing art with almost everything else in life. She tackles head-on the obstacles that women artists, in particular, encounter. In her latest works, she takes on the story of Genesis with a female God who is a neurotic artist. She describes the impulse to create, the joy of creation and then the inevitable self-consciousness and self-doubt. Post-creation, Finck’s artist wants to hide away and wallow in her emotions and disappointment. Yet the artist returns again and again to the desire to create. Is this impulse a cure for loneliness? A need to communicate? Grappling with big ideas through minimalist drawings, Finck lays nude “the artist.”
About the Artist
Liana Finck is the author of “Let There Be Light,” “Passing For Human” and “Excuse Me” and a regular contributor to The New Yorker, The Awl and Catapult. She is a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and a Six Points Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Artists. She has had artist residencies with the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Headlands Center for the Arts and Willapa Bay.
Join mailing list: