Corrine Slade (b.1998, Montclair, New Jersey) deftly combines both abstraction and figuration, often portraying women in imagined spaces that reference art history, mythology, and pop culture. Her subjects serve as surrogates for the viewer as she submerges them into safe spaces, free from the political, social and economic upsets. She depicts her leading ladies of color in imagined spaces enveloping them by tender touches of plants, fruits, flowers and animals–an illustrative refuge. Although her paintings create a haven for her audience, they do not fundamentally incite political or social protest. Her work simply furnishes a “home,” one to which she also seeks as shelter for herself.  “I think that making my work can feel revolutionary on an individual level and I hope that other people can get something out of those images that carry a lot of weight for me. I don’t counter the world with my work. When I’m creating, I’m centering the things I take joy in. If I make from a place of combating what goes on around me then I’m focusing on defining myself in response to turmoil. I think it’s more fulfilling and important to make work from a place comprising images I want to see. I find that’s intrinsically a form of counterculture.” Slade also looks to her favorite artists for influence and stimulation; her expansive list includes Toni Morrison, Bob Thompson, Hope Tala and Frida Kahlo.

 

Slade currently lives and works in Chicago. Her work has been shown internationally at Frieze London, Felix Art Fair with recent solo shows at The Breeder, Athens Greece, New Image Art Gallery, Los Angeles. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 2020.