Tracy Kerdman is an American painter, born in 1970 in Huntington, West Virginia. She graduated with a BA in Studio Art from the College of Charleston in South Carolina in 2009. She has been a part of many juried and invitational exhibitions all over the US since 2010. Her work can be found in private collections across the US, Canada and England. She currently lives and works in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tracy describes the work by saying, “I use stock photos as a reference for my paintings. The portraits are a vehicle to explore and experiment with painting, rather than the intention to recreate or portray the subject in any way. The distance and anonymity allows me to copy and paste faces and limbs in the most visually pleasing way. The general emptiness of the stock photos, when transferred into oil paint on canvas, is transformed taking on a new life. One that instantly becomes more meaningful and cultural. I am endlessly engaged in the many possible combinations and outcomes. In addition to this juxtaposition, the work is executed in a way that obscures the realms of illustration and fine arts. The creative process involves pulling from a collection of images. Often collages are made, heads are pasted on bodies, and the work begins from there.”
American, b. 1970