About

Amy Webb is an emerging Mississippi painter who grew up in Meridian, Columbus, and Tupelo. She currently calls the rural art colony of Water Valley her home. She earned a BFA and achieved the University of Mississippi Art Department award for Outstanding Painting in 2022. Since then, she has found a thriving arts community, having exhibited at several galleries in North Mississippi. Her art captures scenes from everyday life with a focus on the shape of light. Light appears in her work as a spiritual presence whether it's in the form of vehicular headlights, street lamps, or household light fixtures. Her influences include Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, and Rae Klein.  In addition to painting, the artist is an active member of the local community, serving as Chair of a local nonprofit which provides a platform for other local artists in the form of regular pop-up exhibitions. 

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Statement

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My paintings are all created using traditional methods. This includes many thin glazes of oil paint on stretched canvas that covers solid, cradled wooden panels. For years, I have worked with a focus on the shape of light. This focus appeared in my interior paintings as an expression of gratitude and the stillness of being safely “homebound” during the pandemic. My work then moved into painting highways when I did much thinking on long commutes from Oxford to Water Valley.

  In my most current work, I use vintage religious icons that originate from my grandmother’s personal collection as my subject matter. These objects are powerful, ancient symbols and archetypes, re-created by the mid-century culture my grandparents experienced. By painting these plastic Nativity characters and crystal figurines, I describe the nostalgia, comfort, love,  shame, fear, and humility I have felt with an upbringing in the Bible Belt. I place these figures in various scenes; some haunting, some tranquil, some humorous. Each piece carries its own narrative to explore the complex relationships many Southerners have to the churches they were raised in.

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