Andrea Zakin - Sucker Series

Andrea Zakin

I am a painter who exhibits in New York galleries and teaches at the City University of New York and at the School of Visual Arts. My current work explores underlying feminist themes in the Medusa myth, woman as temptress or victim, woman as danger or sucker, blaming the victim, fear of the feminine, power and control in male/female relationships related to parallels in my personal life experience. The series is entitled “Sucker: Me Do Suh,” and will ultimately comprise paintings on canvas as well as on paper and related sculptures. The paintings are in acrylic on paper and measure approximately 4 ½” x 6.” I tend to reference the work of a variety of artists such as Manet, Caravaggio, Titian, and Botticelli who exemplify the ways in which women are represented in art. I use an expressionist style with thin layers of paint that on close examination appears to be abstract, fluid strokes. The paintings convey a series of tensions between representation and abstraction, the personal and the universal, different perspectives on gender inequality, flat and deep space, self-evident and hidden meaning, and ancient and modern interpretations of world stories and perceptions of women.