Bittersweet Sensations
Native New-Yorker Angel Cotray’s vivid paintings offer much more than bittersweet sensory experiences. The artist takes in the world as both an ever-evolving artist and person who understands perseverance on a deep level. Cotray’s sparkling and sour compositions reflect the type of new encounters and fresh, crisp, sensations that can only derive from an innate ability to embrace both the beauty of the world and its challenges. Throughout 2020, Angel Cotray has exemplified exactly that, by building a series of paintings in conversation with pandemic life and focusing harder than ever on bringing audiences together. What Cotray’s work offers is an illuminating inhale of delicate observation and exhale of renewed spirit. What’s to come can only serve to help us look and breathe deeper.
Part One: Who is Angel Cotray?
Question One: Who are you?
I’m Angel Cotray, a local New Yorker, a nature lover, an observer, and passionate artist. New York has certainly made a huge impact on my life in many positive ways; teaching me the value of perseverance and having an overcoming/ positive attitude. These days I balance creating art at home and teleworking for the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. COVID has changed many things for many people, but it will not change who I am, which is simply, an artist!
Question Two: Who are you as an artist?
I’m an observer, attempting to understand what I am seeing or experiencing. Everything I do is subjective, however, I want to make it a point that the human experience is what connects me to everyone. I’m looking for common ground between me and the next person; Experiencing things alone but sharing with others. My paintings are personal and almost like a diary where express my desires and emotions. I do my best to put the viewer in my shoes and insert them into the world of the painting.
Question Three: In terms of your artistic journey, why are you here and where are you going?
I’m here to find connection within myself and connection to other people. Art can be loved by anyone no matter what race, gender, culture they come from. I believe it is a means to find peace and understanding between those who might only see the differences in each other. Where I am going is dependent on how hard I am willing to work towards my dream of having my work in a museum, such as the MET or MoMA. I want to create a place for my viewers to escape and connect, the way I do w/ nature.
Question Four: What do you absolutely need your audience to know about you or your work?
It’s a subjective reality, the viewer has the right to believe what they want. My only desire is for the viewer to find tranquility or a possible connection.
Question Five: What has the process of making art taught you or given you?
Patience is a virtue. I have little patience when it comes to things I love, which is a bit ironic? But I am learning to appreciate every step of my artistic journey, because that’s what will mean the most. Each accomplishment is a step higher than before and I’ll know in the end I deserved it.
Question Six: What keeps you going?
My need to creatively express and knowing that I will have to be the one who makes my dream come true. I might be a bit introverted, growing up mostly as an only child who was a bit of a black sheep in my family. I had to either get things done on my own or wait around for maybe someone to help. I can’t wait around now.
Part Two: From Observation
What is your artistic practice?
Living in quarantine was a time to use painting as an outlet of self expression and understanding; thus the birth of my “Living in the Moment (2020)” series, which is rooted in self expression and sensations experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the rollercoaster year of 2020. The colorful on-going series explores how my emotions, subjective reality, and internal desires inform/ direct each painting. I enjoy portraying sensations and emotive simplicities of living in the moment; occasionally, this involves making a spiritual connection with nature. I use photos taken from my iphone and sketches I’ve come up with, as a reference to a setting or figure and paint ‘realistically’.
oil and acrylic paint on canvas. (18in x 24in)
This piece refers to an internal battle: the eagerness to go outside and connect with nature, while being told to stay indoors for the safety of others. I painted this after being quarantined for a month, living in fear of what would happen if I took a risk to go outside. The desire to be outdoors, breathe fresh air, feel the elements of nature without any form of protection from the virus was tempting, but my conscience would not allow it. The inability to feel the outdoors darkened my understanding of being home at all times, I could only see happiness outside of my reality, in other words, the grass looked much greener on the other side, thus the vibrant color use outdoors, and dark muted hues indoors.
acrylic on canvas. (11in x14in)
This lighthearted piece was inspired by the happiness the icee man in low income New York neighborhoods brings out. Usually a man, he is an iconic symbol of the change from spring to summer in the city and all the fun/ good weather that is to come. Although COVID changed the normal routine of New York, the icee man still prevails and brings a bit of joy to the community.
oil and acrylic on canvas. (24in x36in).
Yet another piece inspired by the need to stay indoors during a pandemic; however, this piece is about embracement and adjustment to the indoor environment. Instead of fighting desires or depicting an internal struggle, the figure seems to find comfort in her setting. The sunburn on her body reveals to viewers that she has sunbathed some time before the current scene, in shorts and a crewneck t-shirt. In the subjects present time, she decides to get more comfortable and embrace the moment by wearing a bathing suit and lying on an orange blanket instead. The window from which she catches the sunlight is open. It displays green foliage that emulate a forest surrounding red and pink blocks; these blocks are abstract, though represent the neighborhood buildings that surround her home. To the subjects right side, is a small wall covered with the sky; this actually represents the imagination of the subject, and how she drifts off into day-dreams while sunbathing indoors. It is evident that the subject often day-dreams or thinks of the sky due to the four sheets of paper painted with the same sky left on the floor, along with a pencil, paint, and paint brush. It is important to note the subject is glowing from the intensity of the sunlight because this represents an internal happiness that radiates from within. The Indoor Sunbather is content with her current circumstances.
oil on canvas. (11×14)
This piece was inspired by my daily phone usage, whether that was due to working from my phone (painting references and Working for Cooper Hewitt) or endlessly scrolling social media; I am distracted. Literally, it is a depiction of trying to find solace while stretching, but not quite getting it when a phone is in sight. The audience can’t see the subject looking at the phone, but the altered reflection looks at the subject with uncertainty. Figuratively, it is about reaching for your goals with other temptations hindering your focus so intensely, your goals fade away into the background (hence the translucent feet).
I used my own ‘mirror selfie’ I took on my birthday as a reference to this piece, and altered it digitally to come up with this painting. In experimenting with body distortions I realized that a new year of life made me look at myself differently. Age, body dysmorphia, adaptive fluidity, and change, these were all concepts I began contemplating, and that is ultimately what the painting is about.
| Where/ How can Vacant Museum viewers see more of your work and where can they purchase it? |
| My brand new website, Cotray.com, is a great place to see my work as well as my Instagram: @cotrayy. To purchase any of my artwork will require people to email me from either my website or Instagram at angelcotray@gmail.com |