Mab Graves, 23, painter
Credit:Michelle Pemberton / Metromix
Mab Graves speaks quietly but paints loudly. Her self-described “pop-surrealist” art is bold and beautiful and will make you do a double take: Each painting is packed with tiny details and odd flourishes.
As the winner of the Art vs. Art competition — where she and an audience gleefully watched a chainsaw destroy her bride of Frankenstein painting — and with upcoming exhibitions in Indianapolis and New York, Graves just might be looking at her breakout year.
Inspiration: My dad. He is the Renaissance man, historian, theologian. Taught himself how to build, plumbing, carpentry. That’s how he raised me — to figure it out and to learn.
My painting process: I’m completely self-taught. I don’t have a good system worked out. Everything I paint lives in my head; it’s a matter of sitting down to plan it. Mostly, I just dive in and figure it out when I get there.
Music made by women that really gets to me: Anything played in the minor keys. It’s not a single person — it’s the key. It’ll tear my soul out. Tom Waits, but he’s not really a female.
Something I really want to get off my chest right now: I think that a lot of art these days is produced so quickly — people take a couple hours on a painting. I’ll take days, maybe a month. People used to take years to paint, putting their life and soul into them. I look at a lot of very expensive paintings and know they didn’t take very long. There needs to be a revolution, with people painting from their soul.
Mab Graves’ art will be exhibited Sept. 3 during First Friday at the Harrison Center for the Arts.
mabgraves.com
