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Lot Essay
An enigmatic expression rests on the face of the doll-like figure at the center of Anna Weyant’s 2019 Untitled painting. The painting captures a static moment in time, as the young girl stares to someone or something beyond the composition. On the wooden table in front of her lies a spilled vase, once filled with water. The figure is seemingly unphased by the spilled vase in front of her as its liquid flows over the edge of the table. Next to this vase sits another with a single, pale rose emerging from its squared opening. The vase is curiously held by a mysterious hand that interjects the space from under the table. While the young girl is seemingly alone, this hand speaks to someone else’s presence. Behind her, on a dark brown floral wallpapered wall hangs a wooden picture frame. Within this frame is an image of the spilled pitcher, but it is standing upright, almost as if we are seeing a reflection of past time, or perhaps insight into a more idealized time and place.
Although Weyant loosely bases her paintings on the appearance of herself and her friends, her subjects end up looking much younger and surreal. She explains her fascination with the “tween” period of life in an interview: “Tweens and being in between childhood and adulthood is definitely a period of time in my life and other people's lives that I'm totally fascinated with and hung up on. It's a traumatic, dramatic, devastating, and hilarious time that I go back to constantly. So I'm naturally interested in observing that time in others” (A. Weyant, quoted in S. Bogojev, “Anna Weyant: Welcome to the Dollhouse,” Juxtapoz, 13 July 2020, online). There is something uncanny about the figures within her paintings — the expressions on their faces, their rounded features, and the stiffness in how the present to the viewer. In the same interview, she explains, “I like it when there's something that's not quite right in the image, something that doesn't fit, like one girl has a Ride or Die necklace on, and it's for horseback riding. But it's actually a biker phrase. So sometimes I have fun playing with the ‘Instagram meets old painting’ type of clash” (ibid). This “clash” is evidenced in the present lot through the confluence of the Dutch Golden Age and more contemporary references, such as the clothing worn by the figure. Weyant’s style and imagery make her work extremely captivating, enticing the viewer to imagine a more complete story of what goes on beyond the static moment in time she presents to us.
Although Weyant loosely bases her paintings on the appearance of herself and her friends, her subjects end up looking much younger and surreal. She explains her fascination with the “tween” period of life in an interview: “Tweens and being in between childhood and adulthood is definitely a period of time in my life and other people's lives that I'm totally fascinated with and hung up on. It's a traumatic, dramatic, devastating, and hilarious time that I go back to constantly. So I'm naturally interested in observing that time in others” (A. Weyant, quoted in S. Bogojev, “Anna Weyant: Welcome to the Dollhouse,” Juxtapoz, 13 July 2020, online). There is something uncanny about the figures within her paintings — the expressions on their faces, their rounded features, and the stiffness in how the present to the viewer. In the same interview, she explains, “I like it when there's something that's not quite right in the image, something that doesn't fit, like one girl has a Ride or Die necklace on, and it's for horseback riding. But it's actually a biker phrase. So sometimes I have fun playing with the ‘Instagram meets old painting’ type of clash” (ibid). This “clash” is evidenced in the present lot through the confluence of the Dutch Golden Age and more contemporary references, such as the clothing worn by the figure. Weyant’s style and imagery make her work extremely captivating, enticing the viewer to imagine a more complete story of what goes on beyond the static moment in time she presents to us.