Denise Souza Finney

Artist Statement:

I have a very strong memory as a child of taking pieces of paper out of my mother's garbage can under her large oak desk that she would pay the family bills at. I would copy the lines of letters that formed on the scraps of torn up paper. I couldn't read at the time. I don't know what I was trying to do, but I was captivated by the process of writing that line of uniform symbols marching across the paper. It seemed very important work. I didn't have much to say until way past the age of three, which was concerning for my mother. I remember her bargaining with me to speak the words of my favorite cereal before allowing me to enjoy that much desired bowl. I stubbornly refused to comply. Was I not capable of forming the words? or simply not ready to use this form of communication that was not natural to me.
Making things comes naturally to me, I paint and draw to make images that speak to me. I design using letters as texture and as a way to form words that scramble through my head. Often these words or typography designs are buried under layers of paint, as a way to start a painting. I find poetry and writing to be envious occupations but I am neither a poet or a writer, but I was a dancer. I know the body and it’s expression through movement. My work focuses on the things that I know. I paint and draw the figure and how it relates or interprets the thoughts that run through my head that are hard to convey with words. I use layers of texture and color to try and describe the layers of emotions and observations that I experience in this world but find difficult to formulate sentences to express. Creating art is my preferred form of speech.

Education:

BFA Whitworth University
on going self education

Awards & Distinctions:

Hains Foundation award recipient 2019 and 2020
Taste of Ashland Poster Image winning Artist for 2003
Featured Artist Artfulhome promotional for 2020 and 2021

Exhibitions:

Ashland Gallery Association Artist Exhibition, CVA Gallery
April 22 2019

Ashland Gallery Association Artist Exhibition, CVA Gallery
April 28 2018

Ashland Open Studio Tour , Ashland Oregon
October 13 & 14th, 2018

Ashland Open Studio Tour, Ashland Oregon
October 14 & 15th 2017

Taste of Ashland group exhibit, The Thorndike Gallery, Ashland Oregon 
April 2017

Weisingers Winery, Ashland Oregon, 
May 2016 and May 2017 

ANM group show, 'Goodbye, Hello' Ashland Oregon, 
december 2016,

Holiday Art Show, Small Works by Five Friends
December 2015 and December 2016

Solo Show, Skye Salon, Talent Oregon 
October 2015

“Figuratively Speaking” group exhibition, Rogue Gallery
Medford OR, January 2013

“The Figure Undressed” group exhibition, Rogue Gallery
Medford OR, March 2013

The Pomegranate Group Annual Shows, Studio AB
Ashland, OR March 2002-2013

Hilltop Station Featured Artist
Ashland OR, June 2013

“Art for SART” Featured artist
Jacksonville OR, July 2012 & 2013

Hanson Howard Gallery, Holiday Salon
Ashland OR, November-December 2007-2013

Revive Featured Artist
Ashland OR, October 2012

“Salon De Refuse”, Rogue Gallery
Medford OR, Feb18 – April 1, 2011


“Who Does She Think She Is?” Southern Oregon University, HEC Building
Medford OR, Sept-Oct, 2009

Hanson Howard Gallery Two Person Show
Ashland OR, June 2009

“Movement in Paint” Solo Show, The Thorndike Gallery
Ashland OR, March 5-30th 2007

“Taste of Ashland” 2007 Gala event
Quick Draw and Exhibit, April 2007

“Moons for Pluto” Group Show, Hanson Howard Gallery
Ashland OR, March 2007

“On Being Human” Group Show, Hanson Howard Gallery
Ashland OR, October 2006

Rogue Gallery Art Studio Tour, The Garden Studio
Ashland OR, September 23 & 24 2006

‘Taste of Ashland’ 2006 Gala event
Quick Draw and Exhibit, April 2006

Women’s History Month Group Show, Hanson Howard Gallery
Ashland OR, March 2006

Rogue Gallery Art Studio Tour, The Garden Studio
Ashland OR, September 24 & 25 2005

Open Studio, The Garden Studio
Ashland OR, June 12, 2005

‘Taste Of Ashland’ Exhibit, Studio AB
Ashland OR, 2003

‘Taste Of Ashland’ Poster 
Ashland OR, 2003

‘Small Treasures’ The Rogue Gallery
Medford OR, November 2002

Women with Attitude Group Show, JEGA Gallery
Ashland OR, March 2002

‘Unveiled, Naked, Nude, Bare’ Studio A.B
Ashland OR, January 5-31, 2001

‘Gallery Showcase’ Private Studio Show
Portland OR, May 3, 1997

‘The Windmill Project’ The Conduit Building
Portland OR, March 1, 1997

‘New Beginnings’ REACH Community Development
Portland OR, February 6, 1997

The Drawing Studio’s Fifth Anniversary Show
Portland OR, September 1-14, 1996

Whitworth College, Solo Exhibit
Spokane WA, October 1991-January 1992
 

Professional/Teaching Experience:

Private lessons in my studio from 2017-2019

Artistic Influences:

I identify most with the San Francisco Figurative Movement or Bay Area Figurative Movement. I attended a lecture by Nathan Oliveira at the local university in Ashland in my late 20's that I found very inspirational. This movement was highly influenced by abstract expressionism which was the dominant painting style at the time coupled with a desire to return to the more traditional subject genre of the figure. Manuel Neri, an artist that developed during what is considered the second generation from that movement, is a painter who's work I most identify with. He is mostly known as a sculptor, but I am greatly captivated by the emotional expression that his monumental figurative sculptures portray and particularly appreciate the paint sketches he created leading up to those sculptures.

Tags:

figurative, colorful, paint layers, typography, expressionism, acrylic, dance, the figure, textural, movement