I once said in an interview that “I paint the reality that
is closest to me”
In case you start thinking that I am a photorealist painter,
I am here to clarify: Yes, I am interested in the lives of the urbanites, how
they go about living their lives on the outside. But what I am more curious to
know is the underlying reality of these people. Their individual stories and
background are no doubt interesting materials I can use for my paintings, but I
want to reflect more. I want to reflect their collective consciousness, their
mindsets and attitudes, their internal struggles. I want to reveal the truth of
the subject as I see it, and convey that truth to my audience through art.
Painting merely what I see is not enough to convey this
truth. I need to interpret these truths and paint them in a way that will make
the strongest connection to people seeing my paintings. Through my art, I
create a fabricated reality. In this sense, my artistic style has much more in
common with the hyperrealist style than photorealism.
A recent painting of mine probably best exemplifies this.
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| Send in the Clowns 2006 |
Everyone wears masks. We are all clowns in this sense,
concealing our truth from the world. I am fascinated by the notion of peeling
away these masks and revealing the soul inside. In this society lost in
materialism, will we still be able to find humanity underneath these masks?
Have we gone so far and lost our souls to the greed for
greater material wealth? Aren’t we all clowns hiding ugly desires behind our
masks?
Something to think about.
