Biography
Amber was born in Ithaca, New York and studied art as a young adult at the Community School of Music and Arts. She did her undergraduate study in Philadelphia at Moore College of Art and Design, receiving a BFA, and subsequently moved to New York City, where she received an MFA from the New York Academy of Art. She’s been awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, the Constance Saltonstall Foundation Grant, and the Stobart Foundation Grant for her work. During graduate school, Amber was awarded a Prince of Wales/Forbes Foundation Travel Grant and Residency, and during undergraduate school, she was awarded the Emily Sartain Fellowship for European Travel.
Amber’s paintings have been shown primarily in New York, Philadelphia, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and are part of numerous private collections including those of King Charles III, and the Emmy Award winning actor Martin Short. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Palmer Museum of Art, and the CIGNA Museum and Art Collection. She currently lives in Ithaca, NY and teaches painting and drawing at Ithaca College.
Artist Statement
I paint mostly figurative compositions and portraits, and my work is grounded in American and Dutch traditions of genre painting. My major influences range from Johannes Vermeer to Edward Hopper to Alice Neel, and while there is a tendency towards voyeurism in my work, it is countered by an element of confrontation.
For the past several years I’ve been working on what I call my “Susanna Series.” It references "Susanna and the Elders" from the Old Testament and is a departure from my earlier work. In various depictions of this parable (from the Renaissance and Baroque periods) the viewer is grouped with the elders as they spy on the bathing Susanna. After having made several paintings of women in domestic interiors who were fairly oblivious of being viewed, I wanted my model to appear aware and to more actively participate in the scene. In this series, the spaces are intended to feel staged, and the women pictured stare back.