In academia, painters are often taught not to paint from photographs. They are told that, no matter how fascinating the picture, inevitably the end result will be flat and uninteresting. In theory, I agree with this logic: photos, as objects, are boring and 2-dimensional. Why should you paint an image printed on paper when you have a whole world of real and physical things around you to render? Well, in short, there are always exceptions to the rule.
Maureen Gubia takes the qualities of photographs themselves and turns them into intelligent and provocative studies of light and shape. By looking at the medium in abstraction, she is able to bring out very strong compositions with what you might call “painterly” aspects. Check out her flickr site to see an impressive, challenging body of work.
[via Lost at E-minor]