Andie Furtado is a painter currently living in the Portland, Oregon. She studied oil painting and lithography at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work explores themes of gender and identity through keen attention to the fleshiness that unites all bodies. By fabricating her figures through disjointed layers of paint and pieces of skin she depicts bodies that become sculptural.
The Tattoo Series (2015-2018), her debut painting series, focuses on tattoos as sculptural events on the body as well as identity markers. It draws from photo-documentation of tattoos and tattoo culture past and present while using the pulling and smearing of the oils to create movement and play with the balance between the stark but also airiness of tattooed flesh. This collection of work also carries tones of empowerment through its rejection of societal ‘beauty’ and gender constructs and shines a raw light on the human body and the contemporary culture of tattoos. Since this series she has gone on to accept tattoo portraiture commissions in which she creates a unique and contemporary form of portraiture focusing on the commissioners tattoos more than any other identifying feature.
Her current series, ‘VEIL’ revolves around identity and gender dysphoria. Although these topics can be dark, which is a quality apparent in the series, the pieces also carry tender moments that bring optimism and beauty into them. Instead of focusing on the overwhelming nature of the theme, she pushes the viewer to explore the fine, colorful details and view the body as a work in progress, developing and being shaped by its environment. ‘VEIL’ is about the body as a platform for change, growth and liberation from its limitations and imprisoning aspects. The collection of work is an anthem for those relinquishing the imposed responsibility to make others more comfortable.
