The Graduate Painting

My paintings are about silence, solitude, space, and shadows—about the moments between actions. I paint people waiting, or gazing, or pausing, or moving from one place to another. The surface of the painting is as important to me as the image. I am always experimenting with surfaces and textures. I explore color relationships and the unexpected juxtapositions that happen while painting. I pull colors up, push them one against the other and look for places where the colors make the most of each other. My hope is that people who see my work are moved to bring their own narrative to the painting. In addition to painting, I'm also a printmaker. There is a physicality to printmaking (especially etching) that I love. It simply does not exist in the realm of any other 2-D medium. An etching is an art object in itself. It is almost sculptural. The feel of pressing or embedding an image into the dampened fibers of a fine imported piece of 100% rag paper is for me extremely sensual. I also find the repetition in printmaking very appealing. There's something very meditative about it. My Solarplate etchings have become a bridge between digitally collaged images and real, tangible art objects. The content of these etchings is based on bits and pieces of old drawings, my own snapshots and vintage photos salvaged from antique shops, flea markets and garage sales. I re-purpose these elements to create or invent a narrative that reveals the juncture of two worlds...the past and the present...the seen and the unseen. I like to call them "recycled narratives". http://marcschimsky.com