Known for paintings and drawings that explore the bodily landscape, Loie Hollowell’s practice exists in the liminal space between abstraction and figuration, otherworldly and corporeal. Originating in autobiography, her work explores themes of sexuality, pregnancy and birth.

Hollowell’s geometric compositions use symbolic shapes such as the mandorla, ogee, and lingam to build her distinctive visual lexicon. In referencing her own personal experiences, Hollowell’s paintings are at once personal and universal in their fierce vulnerability. Her use of symmetry – often anchoring her compositions in a central, singular axis – relates her paintings to her own body as well as the natural world.

As a part of her process, Hollowell sculpts the underlying surface of her paintings with sawdust and high-density foam on linen-covered poplar panels, then coats these with gesso to create an even, white surface. She further adds surface texture by applying her vibrant oil and acrylic palettes with a combination of fine brushwork and sponges. Working on an uneven sculptural surface, Hollowell reconciles real and illusory light within her works.

For Hollowell, the scale of her work is particularly significant as she creates each work in direct correlation with the size of the body part depicted, be it her head, breasts, groin, or entire body. Furthering her exploration of physicality, Hollowell adheres sculpted forms onto her canvases to confound expectations of painting.

Although appearing crisp and flat from a full-frontal perspective, upon closer inspection, the artist's works have become more and more sculptural.Hollowell’s protruding forms are blended seamlessly, forcing the viewer to move around the canvas to determine whether it is an illusory flat surface or three-dimensional. This adds a playful, performative aspect to her work that speaks to Hollowell’s masterful manipulation of space, surface, light and shadow.