Daggi Wallace presents a wonderful portfolio of pastel portraiture. Enjoy her work and be sure to visit her website for more from this talented artist.
Focusing mainly on portraying the human condition and our connection to each other, my work always begins with a visual trigger that evokes a strong emotional response or with an idea I want to explore.
I like to create images that tell a story, and provoke thoughts and emotions in the viewer. Strong lighting and composition as well as social consciousness and relevance are important to my work.
Recently I have included text or single words in my paintings, ranging from graffiti to precisely rendered font. At times I intend it to be easily legible, at other times I like to add mystery to the piece by deliberately obscuring them. The words may be inspired or even written by the subject portrayed. Motherhood, women’s and children’s issues are of special interest to me.
While my style is representational I incorporate strong contrast and colors, texture and text and, more recently, stamping to create a contemporary look to my work.
When working on commissioned portraits, I love it when my clients are open to try something less conventional such as adding text they wrote themselves or other elements. Recently I have completed several commissions for couples that are really more portraits of their relationship to each other than their faces (as can be seen in BJ and Jerry and Howard and Rachel, For a Thousand Years More).
My most popular commissions are the Up Close & Personal portraits I offer. These highlight the most characteristic parts of a person’s face through close cropping and zooming, creating a strong intimacy between viewer and subject (an example is shown on my easel in the studio photo).
While I’m grateful for my many commission clients, my goal is to spend more time continuing my personal work experimenting with text and stamping, creating series of figurative work with layers of meaning.
As a mother and stepmother of four daughters, examining what it means to be a young woman in today’s world is an important theme for me to explore.
I’m inspired by my growing up in Berlin where contemporary abstract work is so prevalent, but I also love traditional realism and aim to find my own way of combining the two. Living a dual cultured life has been a huge influence on my work.
Daggi Wallace invites you to follow her on Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Hi, I recently was in the Art Show “Arts Alive” where Daggi has her studio and I first met her in person. Even before the show I had been posting her work on my facebook.com/peoplesketchers site since I first came upon it. Her heartfelt work, technical ability, intimacy with the subject and the viewer, along with her presentation makes a stamp on our world. Glad you featured her!
Best Wishes,
Sheila Fein
facebook.com/sheilafeinfantasypop
sheilafein.com
Thank you, Sheila, for the nice comment and thanks, Artsy Shark , for featuring my work! Already I have new subscribers, followers and pinners and really appreciate the exposure.