Lisa Yuskavage’s exquisite, romantic in an erotic way; fragile paintings echo Renaissance due to the effort she gives to the craftsmanship. Her compositions are vastly considered and thought through; there is no space for spontaneity and accidents in the final result of each piece. Yuskavage’s creative process is deeply influenced by Jocopo Tintoretto, Italian sixteenth century artist, and, of course, by Michelangelo: when preparing to paint, Yuskavage makes three-dimensional models of her characters in the piece. By doing so, artist is able to study the body from various angles in relation to lighting and other figures in the composition. Furthermore Lisa photographs the models and only then makes her sketches with ink, pencil or pastel.
Light is prevalent in her paintings and Yuskavage uses its qualities to set the mood in the scenery, which creates intimate and even innocent atmosphere so crucial to her works.
Slightly pornographic images are not portrayed as obscene or perverse and artist achieves that with use of soft almost pastel colors, playful mystery of transparent curtains or background landscapes (mountains, moon etc.) and almost cartoon-like character and their positions.
In her works, Yuskavage explores themes of female sexuality, romantic (hetero / homo-sexual) relationships and beauty. She aims to make the viewer see what is happening behind the closed doors of a woman.

text by Anny Baranova