Figure Paintings
My figure work explores the intersection of the sacred and the psychological.
Because it is impossible to grasp the sacred and the psyche directly, I approach
these themes through the depiction of the human figure. These three--sacred, psyche,
and body--all fascinate us, and yet also frighten us. For me, painting is a way
to handle fire without getting burned.
I have degrees in psychology, religion, and art, but I find painting as contemplative
exploration to be a more effective means to insight. My paintings record this
process of discovery.
Swing
oil on canvas
In my figure painting, the methods I use and the details that I pay attention
to are rooted in photography. I begin with sketchbook drawings, then refine these
images using the camera to find a "true" gesture. The networks of calligraphic
lines that often appear in my paintings originate in the grain patterns of photographs.
The monochromatic color found in many of the paintings refers to black and white
photographs. As in photos, the white that shows is actually the ground.
Although I apply paint onto the canvas with a brush, I frequently scrub, erase,
or scratch it away to reveal the ground again. Traditionally, painters have applied
heavy paint in the areas of lightness and thin washes in the areas of darkness.
They believed that light exposes substance. Because I am more interested in the
details that appear in areas of darkness, I leave the lightness unpainted and
build up paint in the dark areas. Meaning often calls to us from the shadows,
where it's sheltered from the sun's color-fading intensity.
Artist's Statement
Awe, Ecstasy, and the Sacred
An Experimental Approach to Living and Art-making
Contemporary and Postmodern
Artist as Missionary
Artist's Statement for the Figure Paintings
Artist's Statement for Landscape Paintings
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