I went to the heartland of America, aka Lincoln, NE to see the exhibition, Poetical Fire: Three Centuries of Still-Lifes, and give a lecture at the Sheldon Museum of Art. The exhibition was exquisitely curated by Brandon K. Ruud, Sheldon’s Curator for Transamerican Art. I was thrilled to see my work, Archway to Heaven hanging next to Hans Hoffmann’s abstract still-life. The room also had works by Wayne Thiebaud, Tom Wesselman, Jackson Pollack, Janet Fish, etc. I was honored to be included in this illustrious group.
Kira Nam Greene’s work explores female sexuality, desire and control through figure and food still-life paintings, surrounded by complex patterns. Imbuing the feminist legacies of Pattern and Decoration Movement with transnational, multicultural motifs, Greene creates colorful paintings that are unique combinations of realism and abstraction, employing diverse media such as oil, acrylic, gouache, watercolor and colored pencil. Combining Pop Art tropes and transnationalism, she also examines the politics of food through the depiction of brand name food products, or junk food. Recently, Greene started a figurative painting series spurred by the 2016 Presidential Election, Women’s March, #metoo movement and ensuing crisis of conscience, this new body of work aspires to present the power of collective action by women.