The daughter of two artists, Pittsburgh painter, Mara Light, does her parents proud.

Her skill with light and subtle (and unsmiling) facial expressions remind me of the portraits of Rembrandt, but her textural additions – gauze, scratches, drips among them – make her portraits completely modern. MyModernMet calls them “marks of ruin and disfigurement,” and I think that phrase captures them perfectly.

Her portraits look to me like unearthed, unfinished works rather than paintings recently deposited on canvas. Her subjects’ faces seem to float to the surface out of the murky depths. Very moody and lovely. I would love the chance to see them in person.

Prints of her work can be purchased here:

http://www.saatchiart.com/maralight

 

And you can view more of her work on the two sites below:

http://blue-voids.tumblr.com/post/86186399588/mara-light

http://maralight.com/