Artist Statement - Neil S Howe - 03/04/14
Much of my theoretical work has to do with the deconstruction of my connection to color. I am also very interested in the way we learn/unlearn concepts in higher education.I work visually primarily in Lyrical abstraction but have always been fond of the human figure and painting nature as well; the figure as a form of expression tied to dance expression; the landscape as a calming and safe zone to return to when my theoretical work becomes overwhelming.I approach abstraction by introducing visual problems or polemics to the piece and then resolving the work. I then introduce more polemics forming layers of battle / resolution history. Issues of terrorism and the United Nations conflict resolution are the intended allusions from this method.The connection of macro vs micro and studies in relational scales interests me as well. I work on individual 16mm film stock frames and then up to 36" x 48" canvas with several intermediate scales employed. The study of scale and the way our world is organized from the imperceptibly small to the imperceptibly large and even how both are necessarily complex, theoretical frontiers interests me.I struggle to combine my theoretical and visual work at times but come increasingly closer to a unified methodology combining them.-Neil S. Howe /2014