Inspiration

 Loretta Lux

I love her work but I haven't been able to find much written about the artist other than this: Loretta Lux was born and raised in Dresden, Germany and currently resides in Monaco. Lux started experimenting with photography in 1999, beginning with a series of self-portraits that led quickly into her current focus on children.

In a very short amount of time, Lux has been showered with attention from collectors and critics alike. Her work has been reviewed in such publications as Aperture, ArtForum, The New York Times, Village Voice, The New Yorker, frieze and PDN. Many editions from her first American solo exhibition at the Yossi Milo Gallery in New York sold out before the exhibition opened.

Her creative process draws heavily from her studies as a painter, as well her early exposure to paintings by Old Masters in the museums of her hometown. Her portrait subjects, usually children of friends and family, are combined digitally with a palette of painted backgrounds, vintage costume, and various props, to suit her exacting vision through the use of photo editing software. These perfectly posed children are coyly manipulated to please the eye at first glance, with their subdued pastel hues and perfect porcelain skin. On closer inspection, however, Lux’s portrait subjects, who have been likened to aliens, robots, and changelings, take on a slightly sinister and otherworldly air.

Her photographs are included in the permanent collections of major museums including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston,Musée de l'Elysée in Switzerland, Photo Museum Munich, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and Israel Museum, Jerusalem.