|
Artist Statement:
My work consists of frescoes, preparatory drawings, and watercolors. It evolves out of earlier work I had done while
studying in Florence, as well as Mass. College of Art. In making my frescoes, I use traditional methods of drawing and painting,
make my own mortor, pigment, and paint. However, I do not start making my own materials until I have spent weeks/months planning
the fresco with sketches, cartoons, and color studies. During this stage, I focus on the complex interactions of composition,
color, and the physical possibilities of the medium of fresco.
Compositionally, my images concern the movement
of the human figure in different kinds of spaces, either vast or confined. I enjoy contorting the human form in ways that
show off its anatomical makeup. This distortion allows me to convey not only the idea of movement but also the beauty of the
human body. I can successfully render the spaces I choose to create by using a traditional fresco palette of earth tones.
Once I begin to paint, the laborious process of planning seems to disappear and I am captured in the moment. As I
spread the freshly mixed paint against the cold and wet mortar I am excited at the prospect that this may --if all goes well--
be the culmination of the project. However, since the mortar dries in only six hours, I know that there is no room for mistakes.
I work as big as I can, because that is what is demanded by the tools and materials used in the preparation and execution
of fresco. Ultimately, the medium of fresco is as much a mastery of a craft as it is an effort to create a refined and conceptually
rich image.
|