Mollie Douthit

Region: MFA Annual

Paint attracts me when it hinges between representation of something and its own descriptive potential. The subject matter I am interested in consists of objects that are tactile and consumable. A painting creates a divide, limiting our senses to sight, with touch referenced only by the residual mark of strokes. The method of painting is a seductive device in its description of the objects; the image references the actions of construction. The marks are attractive in their own right, holding validity as a description of paint, and allowing moments of ambiguity within the image. They constitute a gestalt that has presence in the object’s absence. Within a painted void, the only visual cue to the object is its construction. Migrating between representation and depiction, the construction’s practical meaning is challenged by the desire to include it in our vernacular visual culture.