Andrea Broyles

Andrea Broyles is regarded for her enigmatic figurative sculptures and paintings that feature an extraordinary array of textures, rhythms, color and materials. The artist’s meditative works explore a multitude of dynamic relationships between dream and dreamer where Broyles laces together intertwining webs of this ephemeral and fragile state. Her work explores common imagery of dream consciousness through her meticulous synchronized washes of veiled color and vigorous mark-making techniques. The figure, primarily the female figure, is not merely a portrait but a symbol—a vessel for human experience, both fragile and resilient. It is a stand-in for the viewer, inviting them to project their own histories and emotions onto the scene. Through layers of oil paint, graphite and silver leaf, I capture the liminal space where the internal landscape of emotion and the external, physical landscape converge. The vastness of the field can feel at once expansive and confining, a visual metaphor for the psychological terrain we navigate. By leaving the narrative deliberately open-ended, I create an intimate and introspective space, prompting questions about our place within the larger world and the silent dramas that unfold within us. Each distinctive piece is an invitation to embrace repose within and plumb a deeper meaning.

Andrea Broyles (born 1963, Toronto, Canada) is a contemporary figurative painter and sculptor. Using the figure, she creates pieces that are filled with emotion and challenge the eye and the intellect. Her pieces are worked in a variety of media such as clay, plaster and oil on board or canvas. They offer ambiguous, enigmatic narratives drawn from her life that resonate with the viewer on many levels. Her work (paintings, sculptures and installations are rife with associations of isolation and longing, the passage of time and introspection of life and death. Her work focuses on the female body, its power and mystery. She received her BA and BFA in art from the University of Texas at Austin in 1988. She has worked as a waitress, framer, limo driver, fashion model, rancher, rodeo rider, musician, art teacher, language arts tutor to non-English speaking children and is a mother to three children. Her work has been shown at galleries throughout the United States for over 30 years. A character based on her was featured in the movie Cast Away with Tom Hanks, which also used one of her monoprints, "Wings," as a signature image. In 2007 a retrospective of her work, A Gathering, was published. In 2019, Broyles published “A Rough Night in Paradise,” a collection of her poetry. Broyles's paintings and sculptures are in many private collections in the U.S and abroad including New York, Los Angeles, Houston and London.

2-D, 3-D, Ceramics