“If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
About Perri
Hi there, I’m Perri Funk, an American artist currently living and working in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. I graduated from Flagler College in 2020, where I earned my bachelor's degree in Art Education, complemented by a minor in Graphic Design. In 2023, I graduated with a master's degree in Painting from the American College of the Mediterranean in the picturesque city of Aix en Provence, France.
The essential components of my process are based on perception. I enjoy finding a motif that resonates with me and painting it repeatedly. I pursue merging my experience of a motif and how it looks externally and translating that sensation on the canvas. I embrace the mysterious nature of painting, knowing I learn something new every time. I want to express something meaningful about my experience in front of nature, and I can only do that by submitting myself wholly to the process.
When I paint, I am seeking to express the beauty I see in front of me through my own personal vision. In order to do this, I have learned the importance of fully appreciating my surroundings. I have learned to look closely and deeply, and I am still learning these essential ways each and every day.
My artistic journey is ongoing. I invite you to take time to explore my work and experience my response to nature.
Artist Statement
My paintings focus on the dichotomy between the fragility and strength I see in nature. I strive to create clarity and poetic expression while preserving a sense of the classic.
Spontaneous fluid brushstrokes, soft colors, and the interaction between positive and negative space are essential techniques I utilize in my painting process to create a sense of light and luminosity. I aspire to capture the essential character of my subject, resulting in something incredibly particular yet approaching the universal.
These words, spoken during my graduation ceremony, were written by my professor, mentor, and friend. They encapsulate how I desire my work to be seen.
“In To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf describes her character Lily’s painting: “Beautiful and bright it should be on the surface, feathery and evanescent, one colour melting into another like the colours on a butterfly’s wing; but beneath the fabric must be clamped together with bolts of iron. It was to be a thing you could ruffle with your breath; and a thing you could not dislodge with a team of horses.” Woolf had never, of course, seen Perri’s work, but has described its power perfectly. Light-filled and diaphanous, Perri’s paintings shimmer. But underneath it is as strong and forceful as wrought iron.”
— O’Neill Cushman
