Lanise Howard

I am interested in the creation of an analogous world, where hidden histories, personal allegories, and various periods of time merge. My work ranges from portraiture, to large allegorical figurative paintings. The work often lies in-between differing states of being. I aim to create new spaces through paint, where the viewer can become transported. In this creation of an analogous world; I was originally interested in re-writing a narrative where black figures were thriving and meeting new challenges, as though they were chameleons, ebbing and changing with every new obstacle. Therefore, the thinking was that this place would be a space of new possibility. The idea of change then becomes an element of the work. My work often presents hypotheses and tries to offer possible answers, through engagement and inquiry. I am primarily interested in the figure and landscape. Elements of realism and abstraction juxtapose against each other. I am constantly searching for the tangible and the intangible. This push and pull I am continually grappling with, constructing it through paint, and rendering it through the use of the inner and outer spaces; in order to offer a peak into the in-between, beyond what we can usually see. Domestic scenes coverage with surreal landscapes, creating new ways of viewing. The placement of the subjects can be angular at times, with nods to historical painting compositions and sculpture. Flora and fauna can configure in ways not usually deemed agreeable. Recently, There has been a push with experimentation of color and composition. Certain works are held more concretely in this reality, while others rest more within the dreamed space. In the investigation of using these methods, I am reaching towards this space of the in-between and the analogous, finding ways to help construct it materially.