Reisha Perlmutter American, b. 1990
Reisha Perlmutter is a figurative artist who paints detailed and intimate images of the female human body. She deploys mastery of technique to create an almost hyper-real sense of physical presence. Her models bask in aquatic, tranquil settings that propose an integrated, benevolent and harmonious relationship with nature.
Perlmutter's naked subjects float, swim and immerse themselves in water. Submerged or not, they appear perfectly at ease in the medium, which supports and nurtures them. We see them part-revealed, part-distorted by the modifying, liquid lens of the sea. The artist is adept at manipulating paint to express the play of light, the subtle gradations of colour and the complex modulations of contour that are fundamental to making such convincing images.
Recent paintings focus closely on the head. They are particularly concerned with the flow of hair in water, as it swirls, drifts and curls, masking and obscuring the features to evoke an air of mystery. Such pictures make allusive reference to art historical precedents - the Nereids, Sirens and mermaids of classical and folk tales, so beloved by a multitude of storytelling painters, sculptors and illustrators. Perlmutter's characters adopt some of the more ambiguous aspects of these, suggesting the chance for a less well-disposed expression of feminine spirit.
The artist locates her women in what can be interpreted as an implicitly 'female' environment. Her figures are often in semi-foetal poses, which suggests a vital, amniotic medium, essential to bringing forth and sustaining life. She chooses to represent the sea as benign, soothing and calming - a space for relaxation, contemplation and solitary thoughtfulness. For this artist the forces of nature are potentially friendly, but as a caveat, need to be worked with and not against. Her models are revealed nude and unadorned, in step and balance with an elemental, watery world.
