← Return to Colossal Wait: 2022 Senior Art Exhibition
When I paint, I create blocks of color that interact with each other like instruments in an orchestra. A soft blue-green can edge along the cavern of a deep purple like a sweet cello. Each color can become a solid form, while the solid forms may become distinct colors.
I like the idea of testing the boundaries of what a portrait can be. Much of my work centers around the portrait, considering what parts of a figure the viewer needs to see in order to find their way. The work of Toulouse Lautrec serves as a prime source of inspiration when I begin a new figure painting, as he had a way of turning color and light into solid form. I want the setting, the shadows, and the chromatic world surrounding the figure to be an organic part of the body, like skin itself. Thin and thick strokes take turns making stiff and flexible shapes. I see the human form this way: made not purely of organic shapes, but a mixture of geometry and fluidity working together.