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½ûÂþÌìÌà Anna Foro

Anna Foro is a graduating senior at ½ûÂþÌìÌà Dartmouth, pursuing a BFA in Painting. She primarily works in oil on panel or watercolor and often finds beauty in the unexpected. In 2024, Anna’s work was included in the exhibition Rites of Passage at the Manifest Center for the Visual Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Statement

My work seeks to address the complexities of conflict, externally and interpersonally. Through painting and mixed media, I explore how themes of neglect, guilt, and innocence intertwine. 

I depict private, untampered spaces similarly to how one would encounter them in real life, with the intention of amplifying and finding significance in the often overlooked, gruesome, or neglected mundane. My decisions to include or omit the figure are intentional; in some cases, I intend the viewer to take the place of the absent figure. My body of work strives to evoke both empathy and uncertainty within the viewer, and I often explore the potential for inanimate still lifes to possess a gaze of their own.

I am influenced by my surroundings, and I have noticed this intuitively control my color palette and subject matter. A recent example of this is the dormant plant matter native to the South Coast of Massachusetts in late fall and winter. My attraction to this seemingly still and lifeless (yet pensive) atmosphere has unexpectedly drawn me toward integrating fibers into my work. My work uses soft and atmospheric visual language to create a responsive environment. I embrace the inherent texture of my materials as I render my work. Ultimately, I am seeking to capture the dualities of peace and struggle, nurture and hinder, beauty and gore, as well as innocence and fault.