Keep Contemporary presents
Demian Anderson – Introspective
Keep Contemporary proudly presents:
Demian Anderson – Introspective
Opening Reception This Friday September 18th 5-8 pm
Food – Drinks – Music – Culture – Community
Artist Biography:
Demian is a two-dimensional mixed media artist living in New Mexico, USA. Working primarily in gouache and colored pencil, her work utilizes scientific imagery and surrealism to explore the lines of connection between living organisms and the repetition of patterns through nature. While her main subject matter are usually animals she draws from human anatomy and physiology, folklore, chemistry, and plant life while also playing with size and scale to incorporate unexpected visuals in her compositions.
Growing up in North Carolina, Demian graduated in 2010 from Guilford College with a BFA in studio art and a concentration in Drawing. Her inspiration draws from the world around her combined with a personal history of complex medical trauma. Demian’s favorite artists include Frank H. Netter, Frida Kahlo, and Kiki Smith.
In 2024 Demian left her job as a medical assistant to work full time as an artist. She occasionally creates commissioned work for individuals, and in addition to selling her work at art markets and exhibiting in galleries internationally she has previously been published on the covers of the scientific journals Organometallics and The European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, and the LP album cover of Insects with Strings by American musician Eugene Chadbourne.
Artist Statement:
I have always been drawn to fantastical and unusual imagery, and in college I became very interested in old medical illustrations. I think there are a lot of deep connections between science and art. Nature and animal themes have been prevalent in my work, and I enjoy finding the visual similarities across all these genres that I can play on when creating a composition. The cyclical nature of time, life, and recurring visual patterns throughout our world are especially interesting to me and I enjoy incorporating imagery pulled from chemistry, biology, medical diagrams, and even folklore. I am particularly drawn to the unexpected and unusual, whether it is the subject matter as a whole or small details hidden inside.
I consider my artwork an exploration of the connection between all living things. Many have bones and blood, brainwaves or instincts, hair or fur. We form communities, share a need for food or thirst. All of us are based in the same molecules and atoms. By mixing human anatomy into animal and plant bodies or creating hybridity within my subjects I blur our differences and seek to create an environment that often makes the viewer question reality (and sometimes just laugh).
I love mixing whatever materials I have on hand, which tends to be a combination of gouache, watercolor, and colored pencil. I find it relaxing to spend hours slowly blending and layering colors from dry and wet media to achieve a desired effect. There is a certain relatability in using colored pencils, and I think its fun to combine the commonality of a medium we are all familiar with with the intricacies and unexpected subject matter I create. I hope those who view my work find some aspect they are mesmerized with or completely confused by. In a society becoming more filled with prompts and generative AI it is important to me to continue to create one of a kind images that capture the imaginative abilities of my human brain and push me to stretch my skills for the next idea, and then the next.
