"In this new body of work, Ledford depicts the backs of painting stretchers as meticulously rendered spaces where confession and composure blur. Across these surfaces, phrases like let's go back or free are painted with deliberate clarity, yet their meaning shifts as what first reads as material truth reveals itself as a performance of authenticity. Ledford's realism understands its own artifice; it translates sincerity the way the internet simulates intimacy, through repetition, exaggeration, and distortion."
"What makes her practice potent is the tension between devotional craft and the awareness that both painting and personhood are acts of construction. Her trompe-l'oeil labor becomes a metaphor for maintaining the self amid the constant pressure to appear real. Each image flirts with undoing, reaching for sincerity so hard it threatens to fall apart with a manic theatricality that feels both brave and overexposed."
The paintings employ virtuosic trompe-l'oeil executed in oil and acrylic to render wood grain, masking tape, lace, and denim with the charged aura of stage props. The backs of painting stretchers are depicted as meticulously rendered surfaces where confession and composure blur. Phrases such as "let's go back" and "free" are painted with clarity while their meaning shifts from material truth to performed authenticity. Realism is self-aware and conveys sincerity the way the internet simulates intimacy—through repetition, exaggeration, and distortion. The work emphasizes tension between devotional craft and the idea that painting and personhood are constructed acts, combining manic theatricality, pressure-filled humor, and exposed vulnerability.
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