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American Narratives Paintings |
Oil PaintingsFrom 2000 to 2005 I worked on abstract watercolors by painting through torn rice paper shapes to stain watercolor paper. While used in the process, the rice papers were not part of the finished artworks. I set them aside to dry and stored them -- for over a decade -- thinking that some day I would use them. When I finally began to use the rice papers in collages after not seeing them for so long, it was like working with found objects. I tried many combinations and the works grew organically. The collages became sketches for my most recent large-scale oil paintings.
I began aggressively shooting photos of American scenes in March of 2005. My plan was to combine images into finished compositions. Years later I reviewed my many thousands of photographs and asked myself: “Which of these images are strong enough to stand on their own?” and “What makes a truly iconic American image?” These paintings, because of their scale and interpretation of the photographic reference, offer possibilities to multiply the power of the photographed image. While these works are painted as individual artworks, each image is like a scene in a movie about America. These paintings are an effort to create iconic American images.
Older paintings may be viewed in the following galleries on this website: Iowa Pastimes: Politics and State Fairs
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