Added Jul 14, 2006
Artist Statement
I have always been drawn to the relationship between black & white. Their ability both gives images a factual weight and at the same time they almost give the subject a dream like quality.
In my work I try to tell a story, leaving it up to the viewer to interpret just what the story is, to fill in the blanks, leaving the images loose enough that the viewer can place themselves into the piece, placing their own histories into the work. I try to bring compelling moments and emotions together in a way that they almost get the impression that they are looking at a memory or ghost, not a picture of someone or place. I do not want to tell the viewer who or what the image is about; I want the viewer to narrate the painting for themselves.
By breaking down the subjects to simple blocks of light and dark, I try to capture the relationship between memory and the moment. I want the viewer to feel the piece inside, to provoke an emotion response, to make them think for a moment. Feel something new every time they view the work. Whether it is a simple portrait or a more complicated painting, I try to convey a sense that the subject has a real history, a real place in time and that the image is just a fleeting moment in that subjects life. The absent of color allows me to do that, letting the viewers mind interperate and fill in the voids, hopefully making the painting a personal experience.
Although I have had very little formal art training, (1 semester at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston while I was a senior in high school & some evening courses) I was, as a young man a working singer/songwriter and have seen first hand how a good narrative lyric can connect with a person. That is what I am trying to accomplish.
Simply stated I want the viewer to emotionally connect with the painting and interrupt it’s meaning for themselves.
-MJT