Perry deVick
Painting is how I honor and bask in the joy that beautiful things bring me. It is a way to share the things that tickle my sense of aesthetics. That may seem frivolous to those who look for a political statement and social justice in art. However, as an openly queer woman working in the institution of higher education in the state of Florida, my daily experience is a navigation of the systems patriarchy and politics. Painting is a space for me to dive into the joy I find in color and dance with light and shadow. Like Oscar Wilde, I believe that if the art is not good for the artist themself, it’s not good for anyone else. With a deceptively simple painting, I can bring a moment of peaceful appreciation to my viewers, hopefully activate their imaginations. To create and share beautiful whimsy in a world filled with ugliness and fear is my revolutionary act.
This oil painting on wood panel is a self-portrait in an illustrative realism style. It is a study of some adjectives that have been poured on me throughout my life. Sometimes they are used with kindness and awe, other times with cruelty or derision. As I approach 40, I recognize that these words have no inherent value. I have value, they are merely descriptors. These words need not other me, they can connect me to found family and cultural identity. Instead of drowning under the weight of connotation, I shall let them nourish me like rain does a flower. Or in the words of trans-drag-comedian Jinkx Monsoon, just let them slide off me “Like water off a duck’s back.”
![Perry deVick.jpeg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d19c4f_610e8aae0bbb46c195290ea7293dca04~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_323,h_353,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/d19c4f_610e8aae0bbb46c195290ea7293dca04~mv2.jpeg)
Artist Statement about the Piece (s) Submitted
Title/Medium: Like Water Off A Duck's Back [Oil paint on wood panel]
"This oil painting on wood panel is a self-portrait in an illustrative realism style. It is a study of some adjectives that have been poured on me throughout my life. Sometimes they are used with kindness and awe, other times with cruelty or derision. As I approach 40, I recognize that these words have no inherent value. I have value, they are merely descriptors. These words need not other me, they can connect me to found family and cultural identity. Instead of drowning under the weight of connotation, I shall let them nourish me like rain does a flower. Or in the words of trans-drag-comedian Jinkx Monsoon, just let them slide off me “Like water off a duck’s back."
Perry deVick uses her skills with oil paint to communicate the joys and pains of life with beautiful precision. She expresses her vision through saturated colors and bold lighting, looking for the relationship between rough edges, sharp teeth, and soft flesh. She started using oil paint in the early 2000’s while getting her BFA in Illustration from Ringling College of Art & Design. She honed her skills and found direction while getting her Master of Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design. Now she continues to deepen her own understanding of visual communication as a college art instructor. She works out of a home studio in an artist enclave in Florida, which she shares with her wife and three cats. Despite beginning her training as a professional artist in high school, she feels she is finally understanding her true artistic voice now in her late thirties, even having a portrait chosen to be exhibited in the James Museum of Western Art in Saint Petersburg. Perry’s recent work is focused on seeing the beauty and magic in visions others might overlook.
Artist Bio
Like Water Off A Duck's Back
Perry deVick
2023, Oil paint on wood panel
24"x36")
Online & In-Person
![small- ducksback - Perry deVick.jpeg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d19c4f_16927b9e128d40f2a6e5f2ca09c57167~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_296,h_445,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/small-%20ducksback%20-%20Perry%20deVick.jpeg)