Viewing Angela Santana 

For Zurich-born Angela Santana, combining digital painting with oil painting allows her to transform the female body from object to subject: ‘At the core of this technique is my search to represent the human body in a new way, free from bias or objectification.’

Through 14 large-scale oil canvases, currently on display at Saatchi Yates in London, Santana explores the historical implications of the male gaze and fantasy, while asking us to reconsider the power of the female painter and her subjects. Inspired by the likes of Cecily Brown, Dana Schutz and Georgia O’Keeffe, Santana draws on the mass of illicit images online and reframes them to create empowering images of the female form.

Her process is complex: she uses found images to create layered digital compositions which are then reimagined on large-scale canvases in oil. The resulting works are destined to be powerful rather than pleasing. ‘The idea was to erase the memory of the past and create a new celebrated image from it,’ she has said. This is a provocative show that is well worth investigating further.