Fourth Year Show
Fourth Year Show in Ruffin
I have successfully completed my first show. Overall, I would certainly do it again. Next time (if there ever is a next time) I think I will have a little more conceptual direction to the show, but I am very content with the exploratory theme of this first show. I owe a special thanks to my Mom and Dad who provided quite an array of appetizers and finger food. My mom even picked some lovely herbs as beautiful greenery and extension of the simplicity of my work (see below)! Thanks to Ryan for helping to cut wood, hang paintings, and fix lighting. Thanks to Eric with framing help, Phil with painting encouragement, and Bridget for being a smiling face in times of discouragement.
Below I am including my artist statement. I encourage you to read it and then browse through my paintings. You can click on individual paintings and it will open the gallery. The order of the photos is the order in which they were presented on the wall.
As an aside, some people asked me was if these paintings were done from pictures. I did not particularly address this in the artist statement, but every portrait you see here is from life. I'll leave it to you to think about how that was accomplished, but mirrors were crucial. Another clarification in technique regards the palette knife. I'd say a brush was the method of application less than 10% of the time; this was a palette knife collection. Thanks for checking my virtual show!
SIMPLE REFLECTIONS
I invite you to look at the work as a whole and focus less on choosing your favorite piece; that has been my approach to this body of work. I aimed to rid myself of the need to perform for you or even myself and tried to simply reenter the practice of speaking with paint. The past few years as a painter have often lacked inspiration, passion, and or confidence. I feared not producing something beautiful or not saying something conceptually weighty and that fear prohibited me from wanting to paint at all. The goal this semester was to combat the fear of messing up and even the fear of having a mediocre 4th year show and simply put paint on a surface. What you see here, therefore, is a semester of reflecting, observing, and most importantly making.
Many of the paper works were exercises in letting go of control, yet trusting my initial reactions to color and space. Using solely a palette knife and setting a stopwatch limited the amount I could question myself. I view “17min, 10 min, 15 min, 15 min*” as part of an ongoing conversation with time. A beeping watch truncated my time painting. I felt anxious and liberated by the end arriving. This practice is a micro example of my current reflections on time as I cling to life at UVa while also welcoming its finality.
There is intention behind the position of each subject and composition. Whether I chose a physically uncomfortable position in which to paint, focused on more vulnerable features, or portrayed myself not so “beautifully,” there is a deliberate level of humility to each painting. You are seeing point in time, simple reflections.