![A tall canvas composed of swooping motion and contrasting diagonals. A streak of crimson down the left side and across the bottom frame an inset brighter zone, filled with lines, imagery and washy poolwater blue. This dreamy zone is cut with a large sharp shape, painted economically with shadows that make it pop into vivid three dimensions. The shape could be the top of a hammer, the turned leg of a wooden chair or the familiar stretched fabric of pulled-down panties observed from above. Through a hole in the shape, a small cartoonish face calls out, one closed eye, little nostrils and an open mouth with distinctly pink, parted lips. Whatever noise she's emitting travels through the painting, reverberating in hidden body parts - a hand gripping crotch, foot curling backwards. All the while a wall of drips giving the images a sense of sliding downwards as it rises up.](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/halesgallery/images/view/ab102f8789cc57188cdc1fd6543f31a1j/halesgallery-sarah-faux-voices-carry-2022.jpg)
Sarah Faux
Voices carry, 2022
Oil on canvas
238.8 x 172.7 x 3.8 cm
94 x 68 x 1 1/2 in
94 x 68 x 1 1/2 in
In disorientating configurations, Faux mirrors and inverts bodily forms- this fragmentation is a compositional and psychological tool. In this work she considers the split identity of the self that one...
In disorientating configurations, Faux mirrors and inverts bodily forms- this fragmentation is a compositional and psychological tool. In this work she considers the split identity of the self that one occupies and the self that one can see; a physical body and its reflection. To her, neither is entirely whole and so she keeps her paintings fluid, images slightly out of reach. In this way, Faux invites us to occupy the at-times uncomfortable space between perception and recognition. Organized from a first-person point of view, Faux's paintings build upon earlier feminist approaches, that of painters Joan Semmel and Luchita Hurtado. This perspective compels onlookers to both occupy a feminized body and viscerally participate in its creation. In 'Voices Carry' a woman’s face emerges, reflected at the viewer, mouth open evoking a state of ecstasy. The viewer witnesses an intimate moment of desire.