Name/Title
A Friend in the YardEntry/Object ID
2015.13.01Description
Through painting and sculpture, Vanessa Maltese (b. 1988, Toronto, Ontario) explores questions of visual and cognitive perception. Her painting practice bases itself in psychoanalytic theory and aims to identify a connection between the conscious and subconscious mind. She is specifically interested in investigating the psychological phenomenon of pareidolia—a tendency to find familiarity and meaning in random patterns and shapes.
Maltese's use of visual effects and flatness plays with the traditions of painting that have strived to create the illusion of depth and realism. Like an inkblot test, her artworks are not impossible to interpret. Repeating patterns and meaningless forms ask the viewer to make sense of the image by projecting their own subconscious thoughts onto her work. While some of Maltese's paintings have titles that suggest what the viewer is intended to see, others follow the artist's desire for subjectivity and provoke the viewer to reevaluate parts of the composition.
Maltese received her BFA from OCAD University in 2010. Her art has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across North America. Most recently, she has exhibited at Mickey Gallery, Chicago (2020); Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2019); The Power Plant, Toronto (2018); the National Gallery Library and Archives, Ottawa (2017); Carl Louie, London ON (2017); Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York (2016); Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, New York (2016); Art Museum of the University of Toronto, Toronto (2016); Cooper Cole, Toronto (2014); and Erin Stump Projects, Toronto (2012). In 2012, Maltese was the national winner of the RBC Canadian Painting Competition.
https://vanessamaltese.com/Dimensions
Height
35.56 cmWidth
27.94 cm