The paintings of Thérèse Mulgrew capture intimate, everyday moments that become charged with emotional and narrative tension. This American artist primarily works with large-scale portraits and nostalgic still lifes, using oil painting to explore vulnerability and desire.
Born in 1991 in Iowa, Mulgrew grew up in a creative environment, influenced by her mother’s surrealist paintings and her grandmother’s impressionist still lifes. This dual influence is still reflected in her work today, where figurative precision coexists with emotional and cinematic atmospheres, often constructed like frames from a larger narrative. Her compositions, conceived as theatrical scenes, are first staged and photographed, then translated into paintings rich in pigment and light.
Mulgrew’s work constantly moves between portraiture and still life, two genres the artist uses to tell stories of relationships, solitude, and desire. Set tables, food, cigarettes, and bottles become recurring elements, symbols of moments that have just happened or are about to unfold, where time seems to slow down and the image takes on an almost cinematic dimension.
Many of her series function as narrative sequences: when viewed together, the paintings tell a broader story, while individually they behave like isolated, intimate, and silent moments. This approach also stems from her interest in writing and photography, languages that influence how she constructs her scenes and the central role atmosphere plays in her work.
Her works, characterized by warm tones, soft lighting, and carefully composed scenes, build an intimate and sensual imagery that portrays the everyday life of a generation through subtle gestures and suspended moments.
Thérèse Mulgrew’s painting focuses on what happens between one moment and the next: waiting and silence. It is precisely within these in-between spaces that her images find their strength, transforming everyday life into something deeply emotional and contemporary.
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