Corydon Cowansage’s work explores both the psychology of space and the relationship between abstraction, architecture, biomorphic forms and the body itself. The artist uses geometry and vibrant color to manipulate light and shadow, distorting our perceptions of physical space—while reconstructing the viewer’s point of access to the painting.

In the words of the artist, “the forms allude to things like touching lips, leaves, tongues, splitting cells, drips, wrinkles, waves, teeth, flowers, or skin. I depict the abstract forms in my paintings with a naturalistic sense of light and shadow, giving them a physical presence that seems rooted in reality. My paintings are full of perceptual shifts and uncanny spatial illusions. They’re often tightly cropped and sometimes they feel like micro/macro views of things in the real world. I usually start out making lots of quick ink sketches on paper. If an idea seems interesting, I’ll make a painting on paper with acrylic paint, and sometimes I’ll make a few different versions of the same image. If a painting on paper is successful, then I’ll turn it into a painting on canvas. Through this process of translating and re-translating an idea, I try to fine tune the composition, and find strange or unexpected color relationships through trial and error.”

Cowansage was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1985. The artist received an MFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island in 2011, and a BFA in Studio Art from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She lives and works in New York City.