Back Lit - Grace Grothaus

Grace Grothaus, A Minor Divergence, Backlit painting

Grace Grothaus received her BFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Kansas City Art Institute, where she studied with Jim Leedy. While there, she rebelled against traditional media boundaries and formed her work in the intersection of painting and digital media. A past Art 365 winner, and a Concept OK Focus Artist, Grothaus explores new territory with her back-lit paintings.

As technology shifts our media consumption from paper to electronic, so too does Grothaus’ art. "For better or for worse, we experience a lot of life through back-lit screens – our phones, laptops, and TVs," says Grothaus, "Painting has always taken on the role of describing and commenting on contemporary life. Why then would painting not also take on this new visual language and become back-lit?"

This new visual language of back-lit screens is explored in her paintings, which employ organic shapes and varying opacities to create shadows and evoke the world we are surrounded by. "I create back-lit works that still follow traditional approaches toward painting, but they also take on a whole new set of techniques as well," she says.

Tulsa Studio Tour Artist Grace Grothaus in her studio

Meet & see the working studio of Grothaus along with 9 other artists on April 20-21, noon until 5 pm on the Tulsa Art Studio Tour. For more info, or to purchase tickets, visit www.TulsaArtStudioTour.org.