hidell brooks is so thrilled to introduce our collectors to the paintings of anke schofield. we get asked repeatedly how do we choose the artists we exhibit at the gallery? it is quite simple we show what we love and respond to personally. we are never looking for a certain style or a specific medium. now with time the two of us look back over the years and we can see a pattern of what we are drawn to especially a strong visual language, color and a lot of flora + fauna. whether imposto, trompe l'oeil, encaustic or oil it all comes down to our emotional response to the work.

technique is very important and we are definitely drawn to layers. whether it is layers and layers of oil paint or in anke schofield's work a combination of photography, oil, resin and other mixed media to create her moving images complexity is intriguing. the meaning of her work is not important at first glance but the feelings evoked while viewing the work. our curiosity was peaked immediately and then we became obsessed with deciphering her symbolism.

anke schofield was born in ithaca, new york, 1972 and was apprenticed as a professional photographer assistant when she was still in the 8th grade. her father introduced her to the wonders of the camera early in life. anke took to the form readily and with enthusiasm. during high school anke apprenticed with a number of artists in the new york area and eventually won a scholarship to the savannah college of art and design, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in fine art. throughout this period she pursued her studies of color theory and painting, continuing to find in these endeavors greater creative stimulus and inspiration than she had known in her photographic work.

anke’s successful large-scale works feature fantastical dream-like images created through complex layering. piqueing the imagination, anke’s whimsical imagery of animate and inanimate objects integrated in unexpected ways is a sophisticated combination of photography, collage, oil paint, acrylic paint, wax, and sometimes even tar. the surreal juxtaposition of images is reinforced by the eclectic use of media. anke finishes her works with a smooth, shiny veneer of epoxy resins, creating the dreamlike “trance” by further separating image from reality and distancing the viewer from the textural physicality of the imagery.

“my work is inspired photographically, but i take it beyond the ordinary representation to create a harmonious blend of texture with composition”

-anke schofield

new paintings by anke schofield will be included in made in the south a group exhibition of works by contemporary southern artists opening july 15th at hidell brooks. all new work by anke schofield are under her artist's tab.