Melissa Brazeau’s enormous piece, “Joy,” accentuates the beauty and joi de vivre of the title. The 58-by-58-inch oil painting depicts a nude woman wholly engaged in such an overwhelming emotion, frolicking amongst otherworldly organic shapes, a veritable garden of delight. “I chose to paint a nude model not to sexualize my painting, but rather to have the figure be as unrestricted as the decorations in the work,” says Brazeau.

Brazeau says that she was inspired by the work of Beatriz Milhazes, abstractions laced with vibrant colors combined with swirling shapes and circles. “My art work attempts to combine abstraction with the figure. I believe these subjects work well together because nudes have such beauty and grace and abstract painting has limitless possibilities.”

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