Anne Canfield
The Bluebird, 2014. Graphite and oil on panel, 12 x 12 in. Private collection.
Anne Canfield is a visual artist living and working near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Canfield is known for her small, detailed works in graphite and oil on paper and panel. She has shown extensively in group and solo exhibitions nationally and her work can be found in numerous public and private collections. Canfield is an alumna of Moore College of Art & Design and The Yale School of Painting, Norfolk. She been awarded fellowships through the Center for Emerging Visual Artists and the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia, and has been a recurring resident artist at Soaring Gardens in Pennsylvania. As a visiting artist and critic, Canfield has shared her knowledge with students at both the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia. She is affiliated with Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York, NY.
Can you tell us a bit about the process of making your work?
Dori Boru, 2016. Graphite and oil on panel, 6 x 6 in. Private collection.
The most recent work begins with photographic snippits that I collect while walking, wherever I might happen to be. I compose these fragments into fictive environments which I draw out initially with pencil. After drawing, if the work is intended as a painting, I bring in the oil paint, working fairly thinly, thus completing the work.
Tell us more about your work in the show.
Patiently, From the Window
This title is taken from the song ‘I’ll come Running’ by Brian Eno. The song elicits emotional sensations of longing, attachment and devotion. An environment, impacted by political and social change, is no stranger to cyclical shifting, up and down. Unwavering, a disciple watches and waits patiently, from the window.
Land-Of-Almost-Awake
A series of apartment buildings layered on top of one another, side by side, in front and behind. People evidenced only by their plants, their painted exteriors, and contrived habitats.
What are some references you draw upon in your work? Are there any themes in particular that you like to focus on when creating?
Houses, trees, neighborhoods… I love to inventory a place, taking careful note of small hints, reminders of the lived day; umbrellas set out to dry, or laundry hanging, a bicycle parked, a garland in a window…these little suggestions nudge me to thread them into my own quiet narratives.
Holiday, 2018. Graphite on primed panel, 20 x 20 in. Available for sale.
Where are some of your favorite spaces that support contemporary art or design? Now that the art has an online presence, has that changed?
I love Mass Moca in North Adams, Mass. While I have only visited a handful of times, I always take away a surprise or five. What I’ve found there has never obvious or expected and seems to me to represent contemporary artists more thoughtfully than other like spaces. The space is wide open for anything and everything. Since the pandemic, I haven’t had a great chance to see work in person and I miss it. Online is nice as well, but nothing takes the place of art in person, I feel.
Who are some of your favorite artists? Or who has been inspirational recently?
Golden Hour, 2020. Graphite and oil on panel, 12 x 12 in. Available for sale.
I love Ann Toebbe’s work. She is based out of Chicago and I know she has had a recent show at Tibor de Nagy that I really had wanted to see, but for the painful pandemic. Her flat space and whimsical details of everyday life and living spaces are pure joy. I too love the children’s writer and illustrator Phoebe Wahl, whose books and prints my daughter and I collect. Her contemporary voice in children’s literature is a breath of fresh air.
Do you have any shows coming up? Anything else you would like to share?
In addition to We Are Still In Eden, my work will be part of a group show, Real Estate, at Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia later this spring.
Anne Canfield’s work is included in our show “We Are Still in Eden,” January 7th - Febuary 28th, 2022. Visit her website here or on Instagram @anne_canfield_studio.