Cornfield is inspired by paintings from the impressionist movement. I wanted the painting to capture the common experience of aging and looking back on one’s life through the somewhat unique perspective of a farmer with an emphasis on light and unblended brushstrokes. I used corn as my crop of choice because it’s familiar to me, it’s commonly grown in the state of New York and I wanted an element of my personal experiences to be subtly included in the painting. The farmer looks back towards his home and reminisces, satisfied with his life’s work; his back is turned and he has no name, but the legacy of his farm will outlast him. 

​

To make Cornfield, I used gouache on mixed media paper and painted with exclusively flat brushes because they capture the shape of my forms well while still retaining the fluidity of the scene. Impressionism was a movement that allowed artists to show the beauty of everyday life, and this is something I really wanted to do with this piece.