I am interested in exploring the narrative and psychological nature of portraiture. Contemporary paintings of specific people both raise questions and offer clues about individual identity and the larger cultural context in which the subjects exist. In choosing to paint portraits of real people, my goal is not simply to show what a person looks like, but to examine, through subjective interpretation, who that person is, wants to be, has been.

My current series of specific individuals, couples, and family groups in their ‘natural habitats’ simultaneously expresses a highly interpreted and a documentary vision of each subject. Most are family and friends known on an intimate level, and the subtext of those relationships informs my depictions, both consciously and unconsciously. The subjects' material surroundings reflect some aspect of personal desire or identity that is linked to the psychological underpinning of the portrait.

Before beginning a painting, I pose and photograph the subjects, usually in their homes. These photos become the basis for the work, which takes on a character of its own as it develops. Visually, the work is neither photorealistic nor grossly cartoonish, but exists somewhere between poles of fact and interpretation, realism and distortion.

By conveying a feeling for both the inner and outer lives of individuals through expressionistic portraiture, I hope to access a deeper underlying current of relatable human experience.

Exhibitions

Works on Paper, NYC
Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Long Island City
June 24 - July 15, 2012

Westchester Biennial 2012
Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle, NY
March - June 2012

ViewPoints 2012 (group show)
Juror: Alexandra Schwartz, Curator of Contemporary Art, Montclair Art Museum
Ben Shahn Galleries, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
March 26–April 20, 2012

International Painting NYC (group show)
Jeffrey Leder Gallery, Long Island City, NY
January 8 - February 15, 2012

Love Thy Neighbor (group show)
Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
August - September 2011

Stay Connected - Paintings by Patricia Horing
White Plains Performing Arts Center, White Plains, NY
February, 2011

National Portrait Gallery's Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, 2009
One of 50 artists selected for this show at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC.
October, 2009 - September, 2010
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Family Matters: Paintings by Patricia Horing and Kristin McElroy
Chapman Gallery, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY
March – April 2010

Gifts from the Studio
Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY
November - December 2008

29th Annual Small Works Competition and Exhibition

80 Washington Square East Galleries, New York
Curated by Jack Shainman, Jack Shainman Gallery, NYC
February 4 - March 10, 2006

40 Years of Painting,
A joint exhibition at both the Westchester Gallery & the Alexander Gallery
at the Scarsdale J.C.C.
January - February, 2006

Small Works Show
Westchester Gallery
Curated by Livia Straus of the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art
June - August, 2005

Patricia Horing is a graduate of Brown University (B.A., 1986) and New York University (M.A., English Literature, 1994).