Using clean lines and sharp focus detail, Erin Cone creates works that possess an elegant simplicity. Cone’s paintings are a striking combination of figurative realism and abstract minimalism and are composed of a single, stylized figure against unmodified planes of color, which, in the current series range from pure white to vibrant reds and greens. The artist has also begun experimenting with negative space resulting in ever more striking contrasts. In this series, Cone continues to create tension between the hard edge, linear quality and the soft shapes of the female form. The artist does not seek to force a narrative within her works, rather, her paintings are so highly simplified that the narrative may be inferred or the pieces can be read as pure design.
