Sarah Katherine Gray, Philadelphia
Member Since April 2008
Artist Statement Isaac Asimov once said, "I write for the same reason I breathe-because if I didn't, I would die." I couldn't describe my passion for art any more adequately than with that very same quote. The desire to express myself is so strong that it no longer resembles a passion or a desire, but supersedes it and manifests itself as necessity. To live without it, I wouldn't have a life.
All of my work begins with observation and life experiences that have shaped my judgment and point of view. I describe the observation first with the lens of a camera or the line of pencil or charcoal. The subtleties of light, form, line contour, and color all interest my mind and imagination. Working with the photograph or drawings as reference, I use interesting angles and sketches to describe the intricate nature of my subject. Then through the process of abstraction, I eliminate color, shading, and detail. I break the image down into linear forms, shapes, and line. I extract the sense of dimension and shadow.
After I have de-constructed my subject to a pure and essential form, I determine the overall composition with cropping and manipulation. I determine size and point of view. Then, I translate it it onto canvas with abstracted linear forms. Working from that linear translations, I build up my emotional reasons to the existence of my subject with paint. I use color and texture to describe feelings, instincts, and moods. I create a sense of tension and movement with bold colors and thick application of paint which is often left on the canvas with visible brush strokes.
Color takes precedence and it is the propulsion that actualizes the personal expressiveness displayed in my work. Attention to detail is now re-introduced into the composition with layers of pigment. The linear strokes are manipulated with paint and pigment to articulate ideas, thoughts, and expressions about my subject reinstalling detail, shadow, light, and dimensions.
Describing subjects in an entirely realistic manner does not interest me. I leave that to the photographic lens. I am more interested in the psychological responses of my viewers to the emotional and bold expression of my interpreted subject. I create my work with a deeply personal ardor that explores the humanistic process of judgment. My altruistic intentions are to illicit a response from the view regarding interpretation, emotion, and belief.
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