In the Studio with Amanda Barker

Amanda Barker in the studio. Photo: Matthew Carlson

Amanda Barker (b. 1989, Fort Myers, FL) lives and works in Queens, New York. Her work is based on autobiographical events, referencing themes of body image, loss, mental health and spatial memory. She explores body image through self-portraiture, alluding to the misogyny and fatphobic lens with which American society views the female body. Barker also explores the conditions of spatial memory through depicting empty environments, interior and exterior — thinking of them as monumental, mutable spaces in which the pre-existing conditions are erased and given new meaning. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Her recent exhibitions include INTERIORS: hello from the living room, 1969 Gallery, NY; CMA Annual Art Auction, curated by Katelijne De Backer, Michael De Feo, Elizabeth Fiore, and Bernard Lumpkin, Children’s Museum of the Arts, NY; Postcards from the Edge: A Benefit for Visual Aids, Bortolami Gallery, NY; and Over The Bridge III, Atlantic Gallery, NY. She also co-founded Boulevard Film Festival in Sunnyside, Queens.

How has self-isolation due to the virus affected your work?   

At the end of 2019, I decided to let go of my studio in LIC and move my working space back into my apartment in Sunnyside, Queens. When COVID-19 began, I realized how fortunate I was to be able to work for my day jobs from home, while also being able to paint without leaving to go to another space. 

While having easier access to my materials and space was a positive, my work was also affected due to decreased contact with friends and colleagues. I had booked many people to model for paintings, which is still on hold for now. I instead shifted my focus back to the self-portrait and my own living space, which allowed me to keep producing work.

www.amandamichellebarker.com

Amanda working in her studio

Katie Oh!, 2020, 24h x 30w inches, Oil on panel

Cholecystectomy, 2020, 18h x 18w inches, Oil on canvas

View from a bedroom, 2020, Charcoal on vellum, 18h x 24w inches

Backyard, 2020, Charcoal on vellum, 24h x 18w inches

Feb. 2, 2014, 2019, 24h x 30w inches, Oil on canvas

Feb. 2, 2014 II, 2019, 14h x 17w inches, Oil on canvas

In-progress paintings in Amanda’s studio

Matt Cauley, 2019, 30h x 24w inches, Oil on panel

Winter in Florida, 2020, Charcoal on vellum, 24h x 18w inches

Window light, 2020, Charcoal on vellum, 11h x 8.5w inches

Incidence, 2019, 16h x 20w inches, Oil on panel