From her Massachussetts studio, Danielle Orchard paints quietly charged, domestic scenes of solitude. If there’s an immediate sense of familiarity to her paintings, it’s because she riffs on the great modern masters: Matisse, Picasso, Hopper. But, with a disruptive brush, she assimilates their symbolism only to reclaim reality through her own contemporary lens.
Central to Orchard’s practice are notions of the muse, represented as a reclining female nude throughout centuries of art history. Having previously life modelled herself, Orchard complicates traditional ideas of women as passive objects of desire. Instead, her sculpturally-formed figures – pictured from surprising viewpoints and often from above – are unposed, and unguarded. However, in this new series, women are curiously, and strikingly, absent. It’s as if the missing subject has just walked away from her dressing table, departed the kitchen table, or left her unmade bed, as is the case in (2024), from which the exhibition takes its title.
Illuminating the space is a glowing oil lamp, which has been lifted from a Balthus painting. Frequently taking such art historical references as her starting point, Orchard asks, ‘what could I add to this?’. On this occasion, the flame has attracted a fragile, white moth, bringing quiet tension to the empty bed scene in which there is no dreaming muse to be found within the sheets.
On the surface, Orchard’s sitter has evaded all depiction. Yet, as the artist points out, “The female protagonist is still present” throughout the series. She appears in a framed photograph, a lipstick-stained wine glass, a red jacket. With such signs of life, it’s as if she has just stepped outside of the frame, adding mystery to the tableaux she’s left for the viewer to interpret.
Removing bodies has also given Orchard the freedom to emphasise other psychological elements in these compositions, in which she has brought previously background items to the fore. Still life has always been important to the artist, who imbues common objects with drama and meaning, allowing them to convey emotion, as they do more than ever in this series of moments between events.
The table set theatrically for two in (2024) creates an eerie atmosphere. Placed on a crisp plain tablecloth are no forks, only knives, their sharp ends painted red. Is this jam or something more sinister? The viewer is left to wonder. A single, staining drop suggests there is more to this breakfast than first meets the eye. Served up on small plates, eggs hold yet more powerful symbolism, continuing an earlier theme from Orchard’s figurative works in which she used such iconography to address fertility. Yet, there is a timeless quality to her paintings, indicating that it is women’s experiences, more broadly, that she is interested in portraying.
In other images, still life objects stand in more directly for the female form. The human-sized tulips in (2024) have sprung to anthropomorphic life, blooming huge and heavy heads, which wilt as it rains outside. Meanwhile false eyelashes discarded in a small dish in (2024) act as a metonymic portrait, holding noirish potential.
Light,too,assumesametaphoricalroleinsideOrchard’srooms,playingon walls like thoughts inside the mind. Slicing through each of the lusciously painted scenes are geometric shadows and angular light patterns, their dividing lines seeming to represent half-remembered, half-told memories or dreams.
Having developed a more metaphysical and abstracted approach for this body of work, the artist has consciously sought to invoke “sensations of the dream” by making unusual colour choices, disorienting her viewers. The loud yellow walls of a bathroom, in which the taps have been left running, contrast with a bedroom painted hot pink. At times, she has added to ambiguity sources of artificial light, inviting questions about the time of day or night: is someone up early or late?
Orchard has also conjured notions of the uncanny and unease by casting symbolic creatures as sidekicks to the furtive heroines within her enigmatic interiors: a black cat stalks between several scenes, while a lifeless bird appears to have drowned in its own water bath in (2024), carrying the feel of a dark fairy tale.
In (2024), torn and overlapping drawings reveal chimeric faces in an open sketchbook. Formed by chance, these composite creatures invoke the surrealist artists who allowed images to emerge from automatic drawings or rubbings. Representative of the potential of the unbridled imagination, they also point to Orchard herself, a painter who stays up late to work.
Like her subjects, Orchard is not represented directly in the frame. Freeing women from all possibilities of a voyeuristic gaze, the artist reveals more about their interior lives. Painting psychological portraits – defined by an interplay of dark and light, the real and imagined, visible and hidden – she unsettles viewers’ expectations through disquieting narratives from, and about, the female perspective.
Text by Ruth Millington
Art historian, critic and author of 
About the artist
Danielle Orchard was born in 1985 in Michigan City, IN, USA, now lives and works in Pelham, MA, USA. Nodding to the great painters of the modern era including Picasso and Matisse, Orchard’s paintings often reference their styles and subject by portraying female nudes in a more abstract manner; the figures are portrayed in multi-perspectival Analytic Cubist style or abbreviated otherwise into solid contours and saturated colors. As she tackles depiction plane by plane, or each abstract part that she sculpts with thick impasto, Orchard is exploring the female corporeal representation. While the concept of female nude finds itself deeply ingrained in art history as a muse and more recently being established as a subject of study, Orchard adds depth by infusing her own experiences as a female artist, having trained, posed, and even taught in life drawing classes.
In narratives ranging from art historical tropes to contemporary leisure activities, the viewers can expect to find scenes of familiarity in Orchard’s work. By using popular motifs, Orchard eliminates the viewers’ guesswork in discerning the subject, directing their attention to her mode of expression instead. As the backgrounds or accompanying objects echo the body language of the women, depicted with muted emotions, the artist invites the viewers to empathize and contemplate on the interiority of the models.

Shanghai

China

Searching for information and tickets regarding Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are? | Shanghai taking place in Shanghai on Mar 15–May 25, 2024 (UTC+8)? Trip.com has you covered. Check the dates, itineraries, and other information about Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are? | Shanghai now! Trip.com has also prepared more similar exciting activities and discounted flight and hotel packages.

Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are? | Shanghai: Tickets, Dates & Itineraries | Trip.com

Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are? | Shanghai

Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are?

Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are? | Trip.com

null | Trip.com

Spread the word! Share your result with friends and discover their opinions!

J Hotel Shanghai Tower

Near Shanghai Tower|Lujiazui Area, Shanghai

Luxury Hotels

Bvlgari Hotel Shanghai

Near Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street|The North Bund Area, Shanghai

The Bund

Best Things to Do

Night view

紫色的葡萄AB

I boarded the boat with my child at Shiliupu Wharf. If you want to see the scenery at night, you should set off early. It is best to arrive there before 7pm. Otherwise, there are many people on the Bund. There are not so many people during the day, but there are many people watching the night view at night. It is okay to board the boat to see the scenery! There are two piers, and there is also a Jinling Wharf. The price is cheaper at 99 for more than an hour of play, and the Shiliupu night tour ticket is 150. I think that it is the same to see the scenery, so there is no need to buy the expensive one! It depends on personal situation!

Shanghai Disney Resort

Immediate access

Book now for today

Amusement parks

M32***98

Our family of three had a great experience on this trip to Shanghai Disneyland! Everything went smoothly from ticket purchase to admission, and the children had a great time. It is definitely a great choice for a parent-child trip! Although the ticket price is not low, it is definitely worth it! From the fairytale atmosphere of entering the park to the immersive feeling of every detail, it makes the children (and even us adults) feel real happiness.

Amanyangyun

Shanghai Jiaotong University/Shanghai Minhang Economic & Technological, Shanghai

Capella Shanghai Jian Ye Li

Near Wukang Road|Hengshan Road Area, Shanghai

Ahn Luh Zhujiajiao

Near Zhujiajiao Ancient Town|Qingpu Zhujiajiao/Oriental Land, Shanghai

Oriental Pearl Radio & Television Tower

Cancel anytime

Anonymous user

It was OK. We queued for a while. The first wave of queues was relatively fast. After the second wave went up to the 263rd floor, the next line waited for a while, then walked up the stairs to the 267th floor and were taken to the seat. There were no window seats when we arrived. Then it was food. There seemed to be three lines to queue, one for shrimp, one for steak, and one for lamb chops. The others didn&#39;t have to queue much. Overall, the dining environment was OK. The experience was OK.

Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park

Family-Friendly Attractions

669***50

Playing items: The killer whale performance is really good, and the children are also impressed by the killer whale. The speed penguin child has also played several times, not as exciting as a roller coaster, but there is also a slope, friendly play for children: Haichang&#39;s WeChat public account has a map, follow the map, the map will also mark the latest performance time and performance project, very convenient.

People's Square

The above is the square, and then add the park park, because after the summer, there is a canteen and some lotus above it, which is very suitable for taking pictures, or for a quiet tour together. Of course, there are also such as art galleries, and then there are various kinds of underground shopping malls. For example, Chen Jing Theatre, or pet shop, etc. The square can also feed pigeons! !

Time:	Mar 15–May 25, 2024 (UTC+8) ENDED
Location:	3/F, 27 Huqiu Road, Huangpu District, 200002

Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are? | Shanghai

Details

Vote

Are you interested in Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are??

Recommended Products for Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are? | Shanghai

J Hotel Shanghai Tower

Bvlgari Hotel Shanghai

The Bund

Shanghai Disney Resort

ColumbusShanghai

Amanyangyun

Capella Shanghai Jian Ye Li

Ahn Luh Zhujiajiao

Oriental Pearl Radio & Television Tower

Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park

People's Square

Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are? | Shanghai

Details

Vote

Are you interested in Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are??

Recommended Products for Danielle Orchard: Is It Light Where You Are? | Shanghai

J Hotel Shanghai Tower

Bvlgari Hotel Shanghai

The Bund

Shanghai Disney Resort

ColumbusShanghai

Amanyangyun

Capella Shanghai Jian Ye Li

Ahn Luh Zhujiajiao

Oriental Pearl Radio & Television Tower

Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park

People's Square

More contents about Shanghai