Amanda Farris

Hometown: Baton Rouge

Age: 24

Artistry: Oil painting

Online: amandafarrisart.com, @amanda_farris_art

Dipping into Amanda Farris’s Louisiana-inspired paintings can be like staring long into a densely drenched bayou dream, with occasional glances of light breaking through some dark blanket and coloring the fingers of wild growth with more hopeful hues as the only possible guide through the leafy maze.

That kind of immersion is less overwhelming when it feels like an open-ended journey, like the golden destination on the minds of the white-tufted birds that fly as a moving mosaic in one of her most popular prints.

But like many of her textured oil paintings, these vivid landscapes can begin with a simple, and often unrelated, pencil sketch.

“People go into making everything thinking that it has to be a certain way and meet certain standards, and that’s a lot of pressure to put on it,” says the creative who is inspired equally by a fall day at Bluebonnet Swamp as she is by the almost animated landscapes of English pop artist David Hockney. “So, I like unplugging in nature and just messing around in my sketchbook. It doesn’t have to be finalized. It’s just a little exploring, a way to figure some things out.”

By day, Farris works casting bronze jewelry for Baton Rouge-based Mimosa Handcrafted—including monsteras, camellias and pelicans. Whether she’s examining the sharp angles of palmetto leaves in her sketchbook or surrounded by her canvases and houseplants, each of her creative explorations stems from a complete flora fixation.

“It’s OK,” she says with a laugh. “You can say ‘obsessed.’”

A product of Baton Rouge Magnet High School, Farris earned her BFA in painting and drawing from LSU after receiving the Michael Crespo Memorial Scholarship from the Baton Rouge Art League and an honorable mention at Baton Rouge Gallery’s lauded Surreal Salon in 2023. She is currently prepping for her first solo show at Kelwood Contemporary Art in April.

As patient as a gardener, Farris often turns pieces sideways or upside down to examine their forms. After a few weeks of contemplation, she’ll even set a painting facing the wall in the corner.

“Kind of like putting it in time out,” Farris says. “If you’ve looked at it too long or just need a break from it, that’s really helpful. It’s OK to unplug from a piece of your own art, too.”