21 x 29 cm | 8 x 11 in
Subject: People
Tags: Beauty, Vulnerable, Celebrity Culture
Original painting in mixed media on paper.
"Ongoing experimentation in the studio, part of a series of paper works and the body of work titled Ambition Bird.
I keep coming back to Marilyn Monroe, looking beyond the image of her that has been mass consumed, instead connecting to her strength and vulnerability, her intelligence and creativity looking to express itself. Her true voice that wasn't allowed a space to flourish in her lifetime. "
Listen to Toni in conversation with Sarah on the podcast
The subjects of Toni Cogdell’s portraits crystallise in the midst of colour and texture’s motion, like the scattering of light across a garden. Literary and art historical allusion situate these paintings in a continuum of artistic achievement, and they examine the solitary moment of introspection that is the beginning of all such discoveries. They emerge from – or they surge toward, and are suspended within – the abstract backdrop of their environment. The holistic scene is constructed by harmonising subtle tones with elements of boldly coloured, gestural brushwork; these paintings follow the terra incognita of the soul: a work in progress.