I am fascinated with the possibilities contemporary ideas and painting offer. My paintings are crafted in pursuit of beauty, with an intense awareness of colour, composition, and integrity. My work is under several influences, both regional and international, but not limited to any particular movement or set of ideals.
I begin with the simple idea of figure and ground, placing a figure or figures into a “landscape.” While painting, I use the process of applying brush strokes to break down the boundaries between figure and ground through pattern and implied line. Objects in the paintings begin to dematerialize while the illusion of depth and volume coexists with flat pattern and design. This creates a tension and a layering of dynamic ideas, allowing the viewer to conceptualize their own contextual meaning. Duality and universality underscore the imagery and abstraction. There are layers both in the way I approach the creation of the imagery and in the ways it can be interpreted. When working I focus on the compositional elements to unite the work and bring the different layers together. They are not completely representational nor are the paintings purely abstract, but instead I prefer to work fixing my mind on pushing the boundaries. The images are crafted with a keen awareness of the challenges of colour and composition merged with a subject more symbolic and allegorical than representational.
I am intrigued by visual illusions created through visually contrasting shape and form; pattern and texture and the idea of implied line. The subject of my work is deliberately vague and encourages the interplay between my work and the viewer. There is a duality to all aspects, intrenching the possibility for innumerable meanings to be applied to the subject. This creates a sort of ambiguity, granting the viewer’s psyche a role in expanding the reference of the work.
John Parnell
