Nagyrév II, 2018
6 ft. x 7 ft., Oil on panel
Luca Molnar
Artist Statement
I paint fractured space, pitting continents of pattern against one another as a mirror for societal structure. My recent paintings derive from maps of politically charged and historically rich places, whether real or imagined. The patterns I use refer to specific places and histories, drawing from embroidery, quilts and other textiles, wallpaper, and tile. I am captivated by the domestic environment and our everyday encounters with pattern in spaces like bathrooms and kitchens, the centers of care for the body and the often-invisible labor of women. The home has an inescapable duality as both a site of comfort and a battleground of intimate violence. As the set for our inner lives, domestic borders and power structures are contested, ever-shifting, and laden with history.
To accurately confront the state of the domestic, I paint edges where disparate patterns or colors collide. The desire to confront carries into text and floor pieces that contextualize and assert a claim to space for the paintings. My paintings and installations make a case for the political nature of the decorative. While painting, I consider what insight can be gained by sentencing oppositional patterns to live in the same space. The resulting conditions of coexistence pose vital questions for me about the role of sources, the political impacts of fragmentation, and painting beyond the decorative.