ARTIST STATEMENT
ARTIST STATEMENT
My recent work has evolved over the past ten years. As a painter and printmaker, I am accustomed to moving between different mediums... from acrylic, to oil, to pastel, to watercolor, often combining them. Regardless of the medium or mediums I chose, I have a need to collage scraps of old copper, wood, paper, burlap etc. I am irresistibly drawn to these objects that have been discarded. They seem to take on a life of their own and pay homage to the process of time which, when stripped to their essence, reveal a fundamental link to the past, present, and future by their honesty, simplicity and beauty.
Along with these abandoned scraps, the human form has a reoccuring presence, particularily in my most recent series. These figures, often unbidden, seem to push their way onto the surface. Memorabilia, collaged, is equally dominant and plays a major role especially in these paintings. In my collection are letters, some dating back to the early 1800's, that people tell me lend a haunting mystery to my work. The written word, even just a fragment, can speak volumes and spark the imagination providing a path into the piece for the viewer. I have often divided the surface using copper and line. This seems to give the painting a sense of time, both past and present, therefore the title "Passages" seems fitting for many of my pieces.
As with all my work in a series, one painting is a springboard into another, from canvas to paper and back. Having been a printmaker, I had a number of monoprints that I had done some time ago and decided to use them as a basis for new works on paper. I embellished these prints often adding bits of an old painting. Chinese calligraphy, gold and silver leaf, and burlap that I had in my collection from my grandmother's horsehair bed dating back to the 1900's
The method of working varies. After the first few brushstrokes the painting begins to unfold. The process is both unconscious and deliberate. My choice of medium depends on whether I am working on canvas or paper. Texture and "marks" play a major role in building a piece and I often start with both. It could be modeling paste, gesso, cement, pastel, or charcoal. Collage is also dominant. In fact, collage plays a major role in the beginning stages of a painting as well as in the completion of the piece.
Each painting is approached intuitively. The challenge is to capture the essence and solve problems in an unexpected and meaningful way. I am not concerned as to where my art will lead, but only in that it is a highly personal search involving the creative process. To me, art shou;ld be more than a reflection of our surroundings...it should aspire to capture the energetic essenxe of life. Thus, my work is open to interpretion allowing the viewer to participate imaginatively in the energy and creative process. It has been said numerous times of those who own work that they often discover something new that they had not seen before a number of years after they purchased it...now the viewer completes the painting.
Joan Osborn-Dunkle
