Ashley Oubré – Visual Trickery
- “Brenda”, 11 x 14, graphite pencil on paper
- “Ivy League”, 11 x 14, graphite pencil on paper
- “Prestige”, 11 x 14, graphite pencil on paper
- “Swimfan”, 11 x 14, graphite pencil on paper
The images above, while indistinguishable from photographs were drawn by Ashley Oubré, 27, a self-taught artist from Washington D.C. Oubré’s portraits exist in a realm far beyond mere pencil drawings in what can only be defined as “hyperrealism.” Oubré’s pieces, each executed with immaculate detail and precision, vary in degrees of abstraction, a refreshing rarity for this genre of art. Her subjects are often composed in a world of vacancy (sometimes figuratively; either “floating” on the page; rendered in a distant corner; or with literal bodily extraction), mirroring the artist’s own struggles of isolation and loneliness. To view Oubré’s work is to be invited into an “Alice in Wonderland”-like world; the viewer is first enchanted by the beauty of her craftsmanship, only to find himself trapped in a world both undefined and surreal.
To learn more about Ashley, and to see her portfolio, visit www.ashleyoubre.com or e-mail her at info@ashleyoubre.com.
