Moira Carlson:Paintings

Every time I try to write an 'Artist's Statement' I am reminded of Isadora Duncan who famously said "If I could tell you what it meant there would be no point in dancing it."

Having said that, I do find that some of the same questions keep coming up over and over again from viewers of my work. In an attempt to better explain a few of the themes that I seem to repeat in my paintings, I have added a new section to this web site entitled About The Paintings. Not every painting is covered, but hopefully the "show and tell" will be helpful and will answer a few questions.

In general, I have a fascination with visual space. There is something about the illusion of depth on a two dimensional surface that I find both entertaining and mysterious. Particular visual images speak to me and I am drawn to things both quirky and humorous. Although my work could be characterized as generally 'realistic', I have no interest in simply reproducing what appears to be there. Every time I paint an animal, figure or landscape that has attracted my attention I find that I am not satisfied. My interior voice asks "And then what? What happens next?" Perhaps it is a storyteller's instinct. I find that I want to ask questions, kick the tires, turn this image that we think is 'reality' over a few times and see what hides beneath. I think of drawing and painting as being my doors into the mystery.

There are so many artists whose work I admire and who have had an influence on how I think and feel about what I do. Mark Adams, Emily Carr, Judy Chicago, Degas, Hokusai, Douglas Johnson, René Magritte, Monet, Giorgio Morandi, Georgia O'Keefe, Mary Pratt, Roxanne Swentzell and Vermeer all come to mind. We are blessed to be living in an age where seeing the work of so many wonderful artists is easier than it has ever been. Other great artists are nameless but equally influential—quilt makers, commercial illustrators, potters and Tai Chi dancers. I will gratefully take my inspiration wherever I may find it.

Whatever visual images I may start with, if I am really lucky the painting starts talking back to me during the act of painting. Art is about process. While I am doing the work, the image itself becomes less important than how it fits into the matrix of color, light, and value that the painting becomes. I am always a little surprised when I complete a painting because it is never quite what I was expecting. I can think of nothing more boring than knowing from the start of the process exactly what the resultant painting would look like. It is this strange dance that occurs during the act of painting --right brain, left brain, taking dictation, however you want to think of it-- that keeps me coming back. I think that I am always searching for the still point, the sweet spot. John Cage said "To see, one must go beyond the imagination and for that one must stand absolutely still as though at the center of a leap."