Sara Pope

I randomly came across Sara Pope's work on the internet when I was searching for work that had to do with addiction. She comes from the fashion and magazine industry. She was also a shoe designer as as well as an art director but never actually had any formal art training. In 2009 she finally quit her other jobs and became a painter. She sells most of her work through galleries as well as her website. Most of her prints are around $200 and she only makes 100 copies of each. She freely expresses herself and does not allow herself to be stuck into any box. She has so much control over her brush and medium. Her style ranges from these grotesque abstractions to these very realistic lips and beauty supplies. Most of her work deals with how society deems women and the addiction women have to being pretty. She has a series called "Violent Femmes", and its about how women are never satisfied with their looks and they are constantly addicted to putting on makeup. And in today's society women even cake on their makeup because it is never enough. It is to the point that sometimes you can't actually tell what they really look like anymore.
I love how after being so immersed into the fashion industry she came out of it being very unhappy with its culture. Some people get too deep into it and get brain washed into believing everything the fashion industry says. When you start to live that life style you start to really believe in it, but Pope's reaction towards the industry is truly inspiring. I enjoy how she expresses her distrust with these beautifully drawn grotesque figures. They look as those they have makeup smears all across their face. Even though their expressions look unhappy or dazed, the colors she uses are so bright and beautiful its contrasts so perfectly.