ARTIST STATEMENT

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I have spent the majority of my painting career wrestling with color, mark making and other formal elements, all while exploring the possibilities of abstract painting. With this new body of work, I’m pursuing these same themes, only now I have recognizable subject matter upon which to build paintings.

I’m more interested in retaining the expressive qualities of the painting process than in capturing a perfect likeness. The faces and heads of my subjects are armatures, skeletons of an image upon which to slash, drip and expressively apply paint. Like Jasper Johns’ Flag or White Target, I find my own familiarity of these subjects liberating. Some of my subjects are recognizable to viewers, others, perhaps not so much. These figures reflect my own interests in art, music, and literature.

Themes of Pop Art are apparent in this work. I feel that there are many pockets of Western Culture that remain fertile ground for such a treatment. Here, in this creative space, I can build on the lessons of Pollock, Mitchell and Diebenkorn, while retaining a figurative element that the viewer can easily grasp and consider.  

tony mullins