Seth Sebastian Minneapolis-based artist Leslie Barlow creates oil paintings having a purpose. Employed as a means of studying identity, multiculturalism, and problems of representation, her “otherness” artwork often incorporates figurative portraits of regular people. Loving, in her recent show, she explores common minutes between real life interracial couples.
In one piece, a mother and dad just sit and watch their kids. Another depicts a family snuggling, as they clutch wine glasses along with a couple that is conversing is captured by a different one. Each intimate depiction reminds viewers that, though often overlooked, interracial couples additionally lead “loving” lives worthy of consideration. “My work is about having agency within the description of my story and stories, ” Barlow said The Huffington Post. “It’s a sharing of experiences we don’t often notice.”
This mixture of distinct sensibilities is entirely intentional though paradoxical. “I want each portrait to be exceptional, but additionally to have this matter in common of feeling ordinary,” she says. The paintings felt normal in the best of methods. That’s what I want, to normalize these pictures.”
