Cait Willis (Seattle, WA)
Derby Battle #2, 2007
Acrylic on canvas
30”h x 40”w (right panel), 30”h x 40”w (left panel)

“The series entitled Inside/Rink-side consists of acrylic on canvas paintings of the Rat City Roller Girls. Instead of focusing on each individual player, the work seeks to establish a pattern of motion through the interplay of the participants. The style is similar to Francis Bacon or Daniel Richter, but unlike these expressionists, the palette used is highly saturated to the point that the figures bleed into one another. The technique called sgraffittio is employed as well—the act of drawing directly in to the wet paint to reveal a darker, secondary layer. This gives the work a highly graphic line as the armature for the more visceral treatment of the figures. The decision to create a series based on the Roller Derby came in part from a visit to the Metropolitan Museum in New York . After seeing Degas’ dancers, the contemporary world of the Derby bouts came to mind. However, where the Degas’ ballerina is bathed in pastel hues and immersed very much in a traditional female iconography, The Derby’s roller skaters have a decidedly modern cast to the idea of femaleness. Whereas both are athletic disciplines, the fierceness of the Derby teams adds a new layer to art’s handling of the feminine. There may still be sex appeal, but there is danger and physical aggression as well. As the series has progressed, the size has grown to the point that the latest piece is a diptych 3.5 feet by 12 feet in size. This from initially 24×24 inch canvases. For the large scale piece, one is literally transported inside the rink; the viewer is one of the players.”

- Cait Willis