| > | Figurative Paintings Artist
Statement figurative paintings |
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| I often approach the painting of the figure in a more
abstracted, broken way, partially because of strictly formal concerns,
related to paint & painting process, but also because I feel this
approach better evokes the fragmentation of daily modern life, and
hints that we are seeing just the surface, not the interior. I am
after a way of painting that can capture the interior as well as the
exterior, and of course, this is a difficult proposition since the
realm of representational painting is the visible. Of course, my paintings
end up being at least as much about my perceptions & responses
as they are about the people in them. I tend to avoid detail that
brings concentration to the surface form of the figure, such as facial
features, and look to evoke human emotion in a less literal way, which
is hopefully much more intuitive & resonant. I’m hoping
the paintings hint at a glimpse of the mystery in all of us. In contrast to much of my other work, my figurative paintings are often based rather loosely on photographs, though I much prefer to paint from life. The paintings of crowds are drawn from snapshots taken in public places, such as bus stops, subway stations, airports, and so on. These are times when people are often dislocated, thinking of something else, wishing they were somewhere else, and literally, on their way somewhere else. They are waiting, as a friend puts it, “in a drone state”. What may be happenstance, at the moment the shot is taken, in terms of the arrangement of the figures & their apparent relationships, often seems to take on a new significance after being subjected to a painting process that often takes weeks or months. Some viewers have commented the figures all seem isolated & alienated from one another, and others have observed that they themselves feel as if they are a part of the crowd, they feel a sense of kinship or belonging. Generally, the portraits are of close friends, often artists themselves. It seems to me to be worth painting a portrait only when you know more about the sitter than the shape of their head, and there is more than that to comment on. Also, the paintings luxuriate in paint & the process of painting itself. Often there is a tension between represented images & the physical presence & vitality of the paint, which I find adds to the feeling I am seeking. |
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