ABOUT THE WORK

Yvette’s recent paintings are frenetic blasts of color, angles and movement – much like the subject that inspires them: natural disasters.

“My work is about nature,” she says. “It’s about breaking down something I glean from images of disasters – floods in the Philippines, storms in the Caribbean. I see beauty in what remains after storms, fires, floods, and the neglect of time. Each painting is a reinterpretation of those destroyed landscapes – stripped down to their essence – lines, shapes, colors. These become the foundation for my work. Then once I put brush to canvas, the paintings take on a life of their own. They’re no longer married to where they came from. The colors and shapes inform themselves.”

This deconstruction of recognized forms – first by nature – then by Yvette, is layered with vibrancy of color and fluidity of motion. And music. She listens to it while painting, and if a particular song becomes inspiring, she’ll play it over and over until the piece is finished. Her works, in fact, are named for songs.

In essence, she takes something that has been destroyed by the elements and transforms it into something warm. “Gives it a new skin.” “The challenge is to capture the seemingly effortless beauty in what is left behind.”

Painting is “an intimate thing,” Yvette says. “You’re pulling from the inside. That’s part of the reason it’s always been a private thing for me.”

No longer, thankfully. In 2012, Yvette produced more works of art. And she’s ready to share them. “I love painting. I’m at a place where I wake up thinking about it and go to bed thinking about it. That’s a great place to be.”