PAULA MENCHEN

SKT Gallery is pleased to present Paula Menchen at our virtual exhibition Together.

Paula Menchen is a visual artist based in Málaga, Spain. Her work investigates the intersection between drawing, printmaking and painting. By embracing technical exploration, Paula seeks to unearth a synonymous language between these three mediums. Her beautifully textured and luxuriously colourful painting Petals Fall, is currently on view at SKT Gallery’s virtual exhibition TOGETHER until 15 August 2020.

Paula Menchen has a BFA from Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design, Los Angeles. She majored in Fine Art with an emphasis on painting and installation art. She has exhibited her works in London, Amsterdam, Spain, Italy, and the United States. In 2015, Paula landed her first solo show at the Kasser Rassu Gallery in Marbella. The following year she was selected and featured in the International Kunst Heute Volume 2016. In 2017 she was selected for the inaugural Otis College Summer Residency and in 2018 was chosen to participate in Contemporary Drawing Biennial in Málaga.

Paula has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Honourable Mention Award in the 2020 Artist of the Year CFA Competition and the 2020 Art Collector’s Choice Book Award. Her work has been sold to permanent collections across the globe, including California, Sweden, and Morocco.

For Paula, each work begins with her desire to investigate the different possibilities of each surface: its transparencies, texture and resistance. She is fascinated by materials and how to create a conversation between different surfaces. Her paintings, which often derive motifs from landscapes and incorporate elements of collage, are investigations into pictorial deconstruction. Her rich use of colour is harmonious and bold. Paula describes her artistic motivation as being grounded in curiosity: “passionate for exploration, I always look for ways to experiment in my art practise. Playing with the idea of landscapes I look to these vast spaces as a starting point. I am not looking for a formula to reproduce, instead I’m impelled by curiosity and a sense of discovery.”

Her intricate still-life Petals Fall was painted in early 2020, a year that Paula describes (somewhat wryly) as “most unusual”. At the start of 2020, the artist had begun her residency at AIR 3331 Tokyo but was forced to cancel her upcoming Tokyo exhibition at Project Space. Paul returned home to Spain in March after Japan declared a national emergency due to the spread of Covid-19. Petals Fall is testament to the rich interchange of artistic traditions Paula was experiencing during her residency. The work uses both European and Japanese traditional mediums: oil, enamel, encaustic and dyed washi paper on canvas. Using orizome and katazome Japanese paper dying techniques, Paula created a collage of flower blooms. The petals falling become a symbol representing that artist’s desire that we as viewers “embrace the impermanence of a moment.” The work draws our attention to the passing of time, and in doing so hails the possibility of better times to come.

[By Sophie Butterfield]