Luis Colan

Screen Name: luiscolan
Currently Living: New York City
Member Since: 11/26/2007
Last Update: 12/3/2007
Gallery Type: Public

Gallery: StillLife (17 images)

Painting has to come from the heart in order for it to stand out and be memorable. Too often we see works in galleries by artists who base their “art” on trickery and shock. Such work is fleeting and many times loses its punch line sooner than expected. What I’m trying to achieve with my paintings is the complete opposite, replacing shock with surprise and trickery with honesty. To many my work might seem traditional and might think that the sole value of it is in its degree of rendering, but that is not how I work. What interests me the most are the formal issues that come up in the process of painting, the physical involvement of charging a brush with paint and placing it in relation to other brush strokes. What I’m trying to achieve is humility, serenity and light. The small paintings are a continuation of these ideas which I used in large scale abstractions executed during my college years. At that time I was experimenting with color, light, atmosphere and free form; elements I was happy to see resurface in these smaller works. Although still life may be an old discipline of painting I try to keep it contemporary by utilizing the labels in the packaging of some of the kitchen items I use as subjects. I have also tried to keep in some of the paintings the presence of white walls, which have become some sort of a standard, not only in galleries but in private spaces as well. Some of the vegetables I use in my compositions are chosen not only for their color and texture but because they are essential building blocks of many quick dishes I have learned to cook from my mother. I grew up with onions, tomatoes and potatoes readily available as I would watch my mother wash, peal, chop, and prepare them according to the meal that was planned for the day. I have come to realize that the still lives are a kind of connection to my family; they were a way for me to deal with my home sickness after moving to New York.