Artists Describing Their Art:
John Mccarthy -
Vanessa Bernal - Artist's statement: My earliest childhood memories are those of painting with my grandfather and frequently visiting the Art Institute of Chicago where we would spend countless hours together. He taught me that everything we come in contact with has the potential of becoming a work of art. My grandfather and I would take walks together to hunt for "treasures" of discarded objects that later he would turn into beautiful collages and assemblages. It is those lessons I carry with me and -today- in my work I see his influence. I have never been comfortable with expressing myself verbally. I am not one to strike up a conversation with a stranger, nor do I feel comfortable speaking to a group of people. Visual expression comes naturally to me; it is through this means I can best communicate with others and feel the most comfortable. At a young age I became aware of the injustices being perpetrated in the world and was deeply disenchanted with the political process as a means of creating effective change in our global community. For me, becoming an artist was inevitable. Through the visual arts not only did I communicate my life's passions, my fears, ...
Miri Chais - I create crossbreeds, and connect intricate, surrealistic "light-bearing" objects, luring the viewer into a world of fantasy and imagination. This combinations and fusions generate an illusion, introducing new perspectives which orient and move toward the light. I am interested in exploring and uncovering the poetic elements built into the technological world, while striving to transform the resulting research data into a visual display. It is an investigative process committed to asking questions, probing,and attempting to comprehend the world in which we live, the possibilities at hand, and the expectations for the future. The relationship between information and meaning arising from the works is associated with acts of subtraction, addition, and equation of the different fields of knowledge, while breaking free from the fetters of concreteness, duration, and memory, and taking the liberty to create a new space of operation. The displayed information and the visual capacity discernible in my works sustain a system of equilibrium and a delicate balance between object and image, artist and inspiration, setting and dream. Each work is based on a dialogue between figure and setting, tracing the embodiment of informative concepts and the object's ability to convey and transfer them, as they ...
Louise Parenteau - ARTISTIC STATEMENT I studied fine arts at the University Of Quebec In Montreal (1986-1991). I was involved in various artistic activities in which I took a strong stand against injustice, poverty, and social exclusion. My work took shape using different methods of research and observation. I articulated my artistic approach inspired by existential human sufferings. I created portraits of individuals with unusual physical traits, expressions, deformities, attitudes... These characters inspired me to use colour in contrasts and splashes. My aim was to express the life animating the characters by an internal light. For my installations, I used a physical space to transpose socio-political situations and dramatic events. With the barest resources, my intention was to stimulate the interest of the viewer. My material supplies: Acrylic, rubbish, wood, metal, rust, polystyrene panels, personal objects, used clothing, etc. In 1995, I realized that I had reached limits with my artistic approach. I decided to have a period of questioning with the aim of going further in my research in terms of intention and expression. This process enabled me to explore, to experiment with different materials and to reposition myself using sculpture as my main form of expression. Ever...
Vivian Estalella - "For me art is a feeling, an expression that can instantly transport you. Through the use of color and lines you can be taken to a place of peace. As an artist I choose to guide you on a journey of love to a place and time that will awaken your spirit and breathe life into the mundane. Along the way you will see deep into my soul and experience the passionate rhythm of my culture." -Vivian Estalella...
Vaidotas Bakutis - For me, painting was a natural state, something I did not really choose but which came automatically because, that was what I needed. You can't learn it; it's not a craft you need a diploma for. I believe art is a subconscious expression of self - is the vehicle for bringing the subconscious to a conscious parallel. Painting is always for me about exploring the depths of my own imagination. Painting is irresistible if you can see clearly, that it's paint what you are looking to and at the same time your eye shows you, as through a window, another world. My work is a result of a fragmented view of the world, which gives it a surreal quality -here and beyond - present and past. ...
Viorel Popescu - These are paintings-of-paintings, and in this sense, copies, reproductions from a personal invisible gallery. I re-member my own paintings. They'll always be copies, sometimes copies of copies. I cover only as much as I can complete in one go, therefore the canvas is divided into more or less equal "slices". Naturally, there are differences between these different parts, as each day is different. I do not see a real difference between writing and painting, as both gesture and intent. Just using different ideograms, that's all. My paintings are "written" with paint, an accumulations of signs, marks and "letters" correcting and partially obliterating each other, creating re-presentations sparked mostly by words and word-associations.I use words like one can use nature as reference...and this is where the power of image seems to stem from: this conceptual / perceptual balance... ...the imagery I use has to do with: the equation nature / man-made nature, the confusions and misunderstandings of human intercourse, the irrelevance of emotion, the notion of guidance, of consuming art and consuming anything else, but especially with the paradox of failure, the luminous, celebratory sense of failure which contains its own latent success...
Linda Arthurs - I believe that my art should bring smiles to people's faces. When I was young I was highly political and everything I did had to have a message. During my life, my son Dennis was killed at 16 years old and my whole world changed. The pain was unbelieveable. I would not have made it except for the love that my son Conor gave me and gives me to this day. I decided that I only wanted to create beauty. I like to bring joy and colour into the world. I have travelled all over the world with my camera, and now I am a grandmother of two beautiful boys and am involved with people with developmental disabiliites helping them to become a part of their community and I do this through art. It is the most wonderful job I have had. ...
Leyla Munteanu - ARTIST'S STATEMENT Leyla Munteanu I have always felt a special connection with textural surfaces and the human figure. The beauty and strength in human features was a preferred subject in my work. Now I am focusing on the nostalgic. My love for the human figure has evolved into an interest in what they leave behind. Human marks left on objects and surfaces over time become more important than representation of the people who made the marks. I find my inspiration in immediate surroundings, and I hope that my work will lead the viewer to see the beauty that I see. First impressions are everything. Most often my depictions of those experiences are simply my way of saying "you should see what I saw!" Each piece has special meaning to me, which will not necessarily be the same meaning the viewer may attach to it. Art tells us something about ourselves and my work is the world as I see it, a world that brings back memories. I grew up in Bucharest Romania, a town marked by a long history; every place was worn by time or human nature. I'm still amazed by my memories of these places. All ...
Michelle Iglesias - As an active member of the National Association of Women Artists, Oil Painters of America and the Berkshire Art Association, Michelle Iglesias is a self-taught artist who first took to painting for its therapeutic values after being diagnosed with cancer. Her passion and perseverance has led her to become a nationally recognized award-winning artist, art instructor, and the successful business owner of Berkshire Paint and Sip. She continues to encourage and foster creativity in her students and others inspired by her art. Ms. IglesiasaEURtm paintings are influenced by family connections, nature, and travel. Consisting of the tumultuous dimensions that nature offers, portraits with personalities, and engaging exotic landscape compositions, her canvases invite viewer involvement and have been described as insightful, symbolic, and clarifying. She conveys the vision of natureaEURtms grandeur to produce artwork that is expressive, of the highest quality, and will grab the vieweraEURtms interest and attention. A Berkshire-area native, Michelle Iglesias was born in 1972 in Blandford, MA and currently resides in Dalton, MA. She entered in to the art scene in 2002 when she opened Piece of My Art Gallery and Frame Shop in Westfield, MA. Two years after opening the gallery ...
Lawrence Buttigieg - "My paintings are a balance of physical form and feeling. I penetrate the character of the person and focus on the inward reflective qualities. I slip my view of the subject between the layers of paint. I want my colours to be the colours of life, rendering likeness and personal stylisation inseparable. I am not concerned with the instantaneous image of the model but rather a prolonged record of his or her character."...
Karen Parker - In terms of style I am a Classical Realist. I generally paint with oil, and especially like to use it for portraiture. With some paintings I begin with an imprimatura, for others I use a solid acrylic underpainting, later overpainting with transparent glazes and translucent scumbling and there are times that I paint alla prima. Using these methods, I paint landscapes, still lifes and portraits; painting my subjects from life, as it allows an intimacy that a photograph or a sketch cannot provide. Painting portraits provides me with the opportunity to create a work of art that encompasses beauty and timelessness. I paint with the idea that one day these portraits may become heirlooms, cherished by future generations. ...