Necessary Photography & Art: Contrast: Art from Graduation 2010

Through the use of various colors to create gestural, spontaneous paintings, I continue to explore color’s ability to illustrate energy and action. I illustrate this through by using different application techniques such as layers, washes, lines and previous exploration with the medium. My work is about the simple act of creating; allowing the paint to explore the canvas.

This body of work is inspired by abstract expressionists Hans Hofmann and Jackson Pollock. Hofmann’s liberal use of color combined with Pollock’s reputation for creating art with absolute freedom has inspired the work created for this exhibition. The abstract expressionist movement was characterized by works with emotional energy and gestural surface marks that were the result of automatic drawing and the subconscious. Without the restrictions of creating realism, I am free to simply “create”. My time spent painting also serves as time for relaxation and allowing myself to separate from the world using spontaneous, repetitive mark-making.

When approaching a blank canvas, I immediately consider my resources and strive to explore the paint by creating movement within each piece. In each piece, I strive to maintain visual balance by placing different marks on the canvas by using effective color schemes and compositions. I continue to work on each individual piece until I feel it has reached a visual balance in respect to both color and composition.

Each piece serves as a new opportunity for exploration of the medium. Using various layers and application techniques as well as knowledge of color relationships and line quality, I observe the way color interacts and drives the rest of the composition.

Drawing inspiration from Hofmann and Pollock and my personal desire to create art without restraints, this body of work illustrates my interest in color relationships and the exploration of paint.