I am intrigued by paint and the ability it possesses to not only entertain but to engage me. There is no other descriptive way to talk about the act of painting than to liken it to nirvana. I am entranced with the medium and always excited by the inability to completely and totally control the outcome. The paint and the painter become one in space and time, and leave the marks of the effort, for others to validate.
I am a figurative painter at heart, and I am constantly finding new ways to use the human, as well as animal shape in my work. I form a bond to the figure in my work and often it is an abstracted self portrait of a sort, as they tell a narrative of something that is from my life, that I feel will resonate with others. The figure and the landscape have intrigued me on many levels. I seek to show the connective design the two have on each other. I am entranced by the natural world and the human experience of being alive in such a complex time. I find myself hurried and chaotic yet there are respites of peace and quiet, even in the most turbulent times. I seek to paint these nanoseconds in my work. I am of the conclusion, that these are the moments when I am in balance, and feel secure in my existence in this world. I feel the need to acknowledge and give credence to these moments.
My painting methods are as chaotic as my life, as I layer paint in an effort to simplify the surface, it becomes an almost frenetic experience. The process of obscuring with layers of paint, and the excavation of the layers leaving tiny artifacts in the painting surface, lead to the textures that I desire, not only physically but mentally in my work. There is something that happens during the amalgamation and degradation of the layers of paint, which seems to breathe life into the painting. It is my hope to resonate peace in my art. In the midst of bedlam there is peace, and so it goes with art, until the next stroke hits the canvas and the process begins again.
Cathy Hegman