Sophie Treppendahl Asks To “Take Care of Yourself”

Philip Martin Gallery is proud to present, Take Care of Yourself, a solo exhibition of new oil-on-canvas paintings by New Orleans-based artist Sophie Treppendahl. With a keen sense of observation and stillness, Treppendahl’s work creates a narrative on the passage of time. These vivid depictions of simple moments are sourced from the artist’s own life experiences, photographs and drawings.

Treppendahl’s lush use of color, buttery paint strokes and the ever-changing use of light, depict a familiar feeling of timelessness. Influenced by painters Lois Dodd, Alex Katz and Josephine Halvorson, these intimate moments are expertly depicted. Whether stuck inside during quarantine or viewing inspiring waterscapes, Treppendahl’s use of color makes a recognizable moment feel warm and inviting. The never ending feeling of summer freedom, the sun’s warm embrace on bare skin, these feelings of nostalgia, of a life well lived, are apparent.

Treppendahl says, “Through painting, I aim to capture not the likeness to an image but the overwhelming feeling of the space or a memory. In my studio, I work from recorded observations, often photographs and drawings that then serve as a springboard to explore pattern, color, light and shadow. When creating, the representation becomes secondary, my primary focus becoming the painting process itself. As I translate reflection, pattern, and shadows through paint, the image lends itself to abstraction, manipulation and exaggeration. Through this, the painting takes on new life. And instead of creating a hollow representation of a moment that once was, I hope to create something altogether new – a painting imbued with the vibrance of that instance, the glow of how it felt, and the love of translating it through paint.“