Jocelyn Hobbie‘s figurative paintings fuse themes of mortality, eroticism, and a persistent disaffection with contemporary life. Echoing styles as divergent as the expressive figuration of New Objectivity and the layered patterning of Ukiyo-e, Hobbie hones a formal inventiveness in which neoclassical figures are depicted amid bold patterning and vivid floral settings. Her heightened naturalism and enhanced degree of saturated color reveal a sensual aura that reinforces the subjective aspect of the characters in the pictures, inviting one to wonder about their nature. In addition the naturalist background setting, with elements of fauna and flora, works as ornamental artifice and structural organization — not without an element of fantasy.

Jocelyn Hobbie received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and also studied at Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy. She was born in 1969 in Northampton, Massachusetts.