Starr Downing

Artist Statement

My artistic practice is centered around emotion, memory, and lived experience. I mainly work with painting and oil pastels, using portraiture and symbolic imagery to explore how people carry feelings like grief, love, resilience, and survival through everyday life.

A lot of my work comes from personal moments and things I’ve seen growing up, especially within my family. I’m interested in how emotions don’t just stay with one person, but can move through generations in quiet ways. Music is a big influence in my practice too. It’s something that’s always been tied to emotion for me how a song can bring up memory, shift a mood, or hold feelings that are hard to put into words.

Visually, I’m drawn to darker tones, contrast, and expressive mark making. I use these elements to create a mood that feels honest rather than polished. My portraits often include obscured or simplified features because I’m more interested in feeling than perfection. I want the viewer to connect with the emotion first, before anything else.

Themes of emotional inheritance, identity, and healing show up often in my work. I’m exploring how people learn to live with pain while still moving forward, and how comfort can exist at the same time as sadness. I don’t see my work as telling one fixed story, but more as holding space for different emotional experiences.

Influences in my work come from music, memory, and everyday life. I’m also inspired by artists who are able to communicate feeling in a direct but subtle way where the work doesn’t need to be fully explained to be understood emotionally.

Overall, my practice is about slowing down and paying attention to emotional experiences that are often overlooked. I’m trying to make work that feels personal but still relatable, where someone can recognize a feeling even if the exact story is not theirs.