ANNE BUCKWALTER’s creative practice explores female identity and the coexistence of contradictory elements. Inspired by the folk art traditions of her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, her work arranges disparate objects in mysterious rooms and ambiguous spaces. By imagining obscure narratives that embrace paradoxes, her paintings aim to delve into questions about the female body, intimacy, and gender roles.
In these paintings, Anne is interested in a variety of contradictory relationships. A recurring one is the pairing of elements that feel domestic, mundane, or old-fashioned alongside objects that allude to the female body, sexuality, or hygiene. One example of this would be the inclusion of BDSM gear amidst an otherwise innocuous laundry pile. Other works consider how the presence of material objects like clothing and furniture can be used to describe the body in absence: an empty set of chairs, a television that’s been left on, an abandoned computer. In all of these paintings, she hopes for there to be a precarious sense of distance between the viewer and the narrative content of the image—a glimpse of some furtive action, or an aftermath with a sense of secrecy.
ANNE BUCKWALTER received her BFA from Tyler School of Art, and her MFA from Maine College of Art. She is the recipient of a 2020-2021 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, a 2020 Idea Fund Grant, and a 2016 Joan Mitchell Foundation Emerging Artist Grant. Her artist residencies include Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, Rockland, ME; the MassMoCA, MA; the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity; Hewnoaks Artist Colony; Galveston Artist Residency; and the Vermont Studio Center. She has exhibited at Art Basel Miami Beach ‘24, Miami, FL; Felix Art Fair ‘23, Los Angeles, CA; FOG Design + Art Fair ‘23, San Francisco, CA; Frieze NYC ‘22, New York, NY; Untitled Art Miami Beach ‘21, Miami Beach, FL; The Armory Show ‘21, New York, NY; Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME; The Painting Center, New York, NY; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME; Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA; the ICA at Maine College of Art & Design, Portland, ME; Boston University Gallery, Boston, MA; and others. Her work is in the permanent collection of Zuzeum Art Centre, Riga, Latvia; ICA Miami, Miami, FL; the University of West Virginia Art Museum, Morgantown, WV; and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
