| Statement 2000 | |
|
|
|
| Please click the above art work for more information about the 2000 art work. | |
|
For me, being an artist is a journey in which I search for images. Much of this journey is internal, and backward, involves a longing for something lost, and a need to express that from within myself. This journey is driven by the accidents of my personal biography, the weight and lived experience and the finite nature of time, work and life itself. The paintings produced along the way are the detritus of that search, the residue of a process that is nothing more nor less than one's life. In such a context, the painting is the tip of an iceberg: it is what "shows", what results from the extraordinary complex creative process whereby the painted image emerges, evolves and is made into a fixed and painted thing. In this process, everything is of consequence to the practicing artist. You never know where your art will lead you, or when. All you can do is be attentive to its urgings. There may be no such thing as an original image, but each individual is historically unique and possessed of a capacity for experience and expression that is completely original to him or her. it is in that context that the art-making dialogue occurs, and holds its promise of renewal and rebirth, Inevitably, my work is also a response to a century of modernism, with its emphasis upon process, minimal means and an awareness of the overall cultural and historical context within which art continues to happen. I believe that my paintings could not have been made before now. When I am asked how long it takes me to make a painting, I reply " All my life. I did it as soon as I could." My basic technical concerns as a painter have always involved the traditional practice of oil painting, and a primary orientation towards "realism" and the realist tradition in American Art. Within those concerns, I have had a general preoccupation with the object hood of paintings an the painting of objects as a subject of painting. To a certain extent, paintings are less pictures for me than they are totems, icons and objects of contemplation and meditative regard. A painting is a constant thing: it does not change, though our understanding and perception of it may. Sometimes paintings can change us; change the way we see, think, and feel. The subject matter of my paintings, although it takes its source from traditional still life presentation and motifs, has focused on common, vernacular and abstract forms as these appear and appeal to my anthropological perspective. These have included such objects as hats, cooking utensils, bears, fruits, fireplugs, barrels, implements and containers, objects related to the sea and the idea of words-as-objects. in all these paintings, i have attempted to treat the object depicted as an eternal sculptural presence and a psychological metaphor. As an artist, I don't know everything about what I'm doing, though I do know some things about the origins and facture of my paintings that no one else will ever know. At a certain level, it really doesn't matter what I intend or think about my work. The paintings have a life of their own, in time and space, beyond my life as a artist. the only important thing, really, is that I paint. Ultimately, painting in an act of faith.
|
|
|
|