the shape of my heart

Comment

Comment by Adrian Setterfield on January 5, 2012 at 4:39am

Thank you for the insight

Comment by Resident Curator on January 4, 2012 at 6:15pm

Curator’s Comment:

 

The Shape of My Heart really draws me in and holds my attention.  The allover gestural pattern is much more controlled than anticipated upon closer inspection; the seemingly haphazard markings become a meticulous web of black and gray.  The lighter gray and white lines towards the center cause the space to pulsate, and blur slightly as they work towards the middle oculus. The warmer bits of color in the middle also hint at an organic entity- the “heart” of the piece.  But I favor your more poetic than literal reference.  Your works overall seem indebted to Abstract Expressionism, with the dense visceral brushstrokes.  There’s an instinctive, intuitive methodology that I strongly respond to, but also I personally find the intense color in some pieces diverts my attention from the fundamental tension created between line and ground.  Things are Not What They Seem perfectly tempers the blue and orange saturated areas with neutralizing black and milky white.  But it ultimately seems to be a more aggressively muscular work than the first few works in the achromatic series.  Not What They Seem also has more defined areas of emphasis that create an internal dialogue.  I was very surprised to see the scale- this would appear to be a significantly larger painting.  Thanks for sharing this work.