Artist Statement
I make small-scale oil paintings on linen drawn from my personal memories. I focus on quiet moments and everyday objects, using an autumnal, dusty palette to convey my emotional connection to what I remember. I rarely use source material; instead I paint from recollection, often from a bird’s-eye view—as if watching rather than participating—so space compresses and stretches, with foreshortened doorways and elongated walls. I think of these works as autobiographical fiction: details may shift, but if the feeling of the painting matches my feeling for the memory, I have found a truth. Sometimes I add a fantastical note for emotional drama or dark humor (a haloed dog). Through layered paint and intentional brushwork, I aim to make the memory retained in the physical object of a painting.
Bio
Originally from North Dakota, Douthit has lived and worked for many years in Ireland, and is now based in Malmö, Sweden. She holds a BFA from the University of North Dakota; Post Baccalaureate from Tufts University, Boston; and MFA from Burren College of Art, NUIG. Major achievements include the 2013 RHA Hennessy Craig award, a solo exhibition at the North Dakota Museum of Art, twice awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant, several Arts Council Bursaries, and is included in many Irish public and private collections.
Douthit’s work has been featured in Hyperallergic, The Irish Times, Sunday Times Culture, New American Paintings, and Ilikeyourworkpodcast. Her work has been supported by residencies at the Tony O’Malley residence, Jentel Foundation for the Arts, Tyrone Guthrie Center, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, and Vermont Studio Center.
Recent exhibitions include Dreams are Important, Molesworth Gallery; Tyranny of Ambition, Highlanes Gallery; Generation 22, Butler Gallery; and a solo exhibition When Worlds Collide, Butler Gallery. Douthit and her paintings are the subject in Opening Night a book by acclaimed Irish author Sara Baume.
Douthit starts every day with a run, followed by coffee. A passionate baker and reader of literary fiction.