Adde Russell
Resident #6, Oct 24 – Dec 11
Born in Southern California, Adde Russell has called many places home. After graduating from Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts, she spent several years exhibiting her work in the Northwest, New York and Italy before making the move to Austin.
Adde has also enjoyed a career in design and has been fortunate to work with talented musicians and authors creating cover and packaging art. Along with her love of painting, she has played drums for different bands and was a Texas Rollergirl for a couple of seasons.
Her diverse interests and background has informed the work she does today. Although, focused on traditional painting techniques, her work is far from conventional. She experiments with her process and examines the use of materials making her work unique and vital.
She is currently represented in Austin by Commerce Gallery.
“A studio at the LINE will provide a unique opportunity to invigorate my creative process and explore new mediums and methods. I am looking forward to developing new work as well as deepening my relationship with my current studio practice. The LINE Residency will allow for immediate in-person feedback and engagement with visitors which is a rare chance for personal and professional growth.”
Artist Statement:
I compare my work to wading into the shallow waters of a bay, careful to tread mindfully on the uneven bottom. I see an unusually colored rock that stands out among the silt. As I bend to reach for it, the glare of the sun hitting the water is blinding and I lose my place. The floor becomes infinite as I can only feel sand sifting between my toes. Perhaps I was never meant to find it or maybe nothing would be dierent if I had. Everything changes always - even if we are unable to see it. I begin each painting without a map to a conclusion. I savor building precious and detailed foundations that I will eventually crack open and breakdown. By altering the alignment of the subject along with the surfaces they’re painted on, I’m able to fracture assumptions. I challenge what the viewer may presuppose because I appreciate that what we perceive in our own lives is always shifting. I believe there is beauty in the tension to plan for outcomes that don’t fulfill ones expectations - as unsettling as it may feel in the moment.
I work to examine dueling realities. There is a story behind subjects in color, but the narrative is transformed once they are presented monochromatically. Occasionally I paint the materials used in the process - masking tape, Post-it Notes, etc. - disclosing a glimpse of the craft. Leaving areas marked up with disheveled brush strokes is another attempt at conveying the honesty in the process. I’m not always clear where I’m going, but I trust the work to get me there.
