Ariel Mitchell is a painter living in Brooklyn, NY. She holds an MFA from CUNY Hunter College (2021) and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (2007). She has attended residencies at the Vermont Studio Center (2007), Griffis-Orpheus Foundation (Bulgaria, 2008), Arteles (Finland, 2011), and SiM Reykjavik (Iceland, 2013). She is currently featured on the Hauser and Wirth spotlight emerging artists page, and has been published in Forbes, Whitehot Magazine, Studio Visit magazine, and ROV 4.
For Ariel Mitchell, the surfaces of her artworks are more than layers of paint. In nebulous explosions of color, her canvas and, at times, linen foundations contort into new forms. She simultaneously pulls us into these new worlds of her own creation while defying the expanses of her substrates. Her practice evolved from fundamental figure painting and printmaking skills into the experimental abstract pieces we witness today. In a way, her paintings spill into the realm of collage. In her early works, she combined her uniquely stretched, cut, and punctured works with materials like string, cardboard, and spray paint. A visual language constructed of formal elements began to take shape, leading to her distinctive fusion of color, texture, and expression.
Through these elements, she constructs compositions that evoke emotions, past experiences, and memories. Building upon a signature palette of vivacious takes on primary colors, featuring Phthalocyanine blue, Quinacridone magenta, and Alizarin yellow; she manipulates their tonal values with contrasts of cold black and titanium white. Mixing vibrancy with muddiness, her brushstrokes create an illusion of light and movement. Heightening these visceral effects, she builds tension through her mark-making process. Beginning slowly and meticulously only to gain speed and intensity, each brushstroke becomes an individual record of a specific moment in time. These visual expressions find themselves deeply intertwined with verbal language. Using her titles as a scaffold for conveying messages to her audience, the layers and excavation of her paintings allow each individual to recollect memories and experience what lies beneath the surface in their own way.
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contact: arielldm@gmail.com