Mac Barnes is an oil painter and digital artist from Flagstaff, AZ. She has been a featured artist in ArtX Flagstaff and participated in Art in the Park art market, and was commissioned by June Jam music festival to create a custom stage backdrop. She received a Tanner fellowship grant to paint a series of personality portraits during the summer of 2019, presented to St. Lawrence University’s art department and published in the Underground magazine, as well as featured in the St. Lawrence University magazine and on Instagram. Her digital project is built upon her painting series mentioned above, focusing on aspects of personality and portraiture.

Artist Statement

My work is a compilation of fragments and aesthetic ideas coming together in unexpected ways. My compositions are situated in abstract forms and constructions with elements of naturalism. I employ the use of segmentation and extreme close-ups in some instances to border the realm of the unrecognizable and revel in anonymity. Inspiration exists in seeking out the unseen, whether it be the reflection of a puddle or the inner texture of a strawberry. I invite the viewer to look closely and reflect upon the subjects of my work as I seek to form new connections and relationships. I believe the unseen can offer creativity to anyone who will stop and consider it.

My portraiture combines a stroke of realism with that of the conceptual essence of an aura, or personality. The diminutive idiosyncrasies possessed by every individual around me inspires my drive to capture their inner essence in an oil painting. I strive to find the fine line determining where a stranger becomes a friend, and challenge it. Does friendship have to be defined by intimate knowledge of another, or can it be evoked through an intimate visual depiction? My portraiture series spans a vast geography to question the existence of familiarity outside of our own social location and spark a nostalgic recognition in the viewer.