Title
Class Year
2015
Preview
Creation Date
Fall 2014
Document Type
Image
Department 1
Art
Description
Oil on Wooden Board
From the artist: My paintings focus on my experience studying abroad in Denmark last winter. They depict not the typical, touristy views of travel, where everything is bright and shiny, breathtaking and exciting. Rather, they portray the mundane moments of the everyday. I find immense beauty in this. There is light and warmth in the coldest, bleakest days. There is movement even across frozen grounds. There is life amidst old, industrial materials.
I try to capture this contrast by playing with lines and curves, depth and perspective, angles and planes. Color also reinforces this message. Shades of cool blues, grays, browns, and black and white cover the majority of the wooden boards. The focus then falls on the warm spots of reds, oranges and yellows in the distance and in the details. They help lead the eye around the piece, creating an additional layer of life and movement, actively engaging the present with the past. The painting style tries to be realistic to mimic the veracity of the experience. However, certain areas are left for the imagination to fill in and interpret too.
As simple as the subject may be, I believe it is important to portray. Small ordinary moments are just as beautiful, meaningful and fleeting as big iconic moments. There is quirkiness to this. The unremarkable becomes remarkable because it is noticed and expressed in new ways. Nothing particularly monumental is happening in my paintings, but sometimes, these unassuming scenes are what I remember most fondly of my time in Denmark.
Keywords
oil on wood, Demark, artwork, outdoor scenes