Paintings 2017
old world erupts, oil, acrylic, and gesso on 2 wood panels, 48"x48", 2017
scales obliquely, oil, acrylic, and gesso on 2 wood panels, 48"x48", 2017
diver down, oil, acrylic, and gesso on 2 wood panels, 48"x48", 2017
string melody, oil, acrylic, and ink on canvas, 36"x36", 2017
tripping in the fallout, oil, acrylic, and gesso on wood panel, 16”x16”, 2017
Rubicon, oil, acrylic, and gesso on wood panel, 16”x16”, 2017
new river new land, oil, acrylic, and gesso on wood panel, 16”x16”, 2017
this place without reservation, oil, acrylic, and gesso on 2 wood panels, 48”x48”, 2017
Painting is about forgetting familiarity and letting a picture arise when the moment is right and there is a fresh beginning. These paintings call forth the occurrence of memory and how it operates to construct an image. I piece together fragments of known and unknown experiences to form new memory systems. Ambiguity is the great field to run across, and at the end of this expanse lies an image that can never reveal itself until you have confronted the weight of the air and the hardness of the earth.
The process of making a surface is of crucial importance to these paintings. Each layer is built up and then covered so as to alter the experience. Gesso is used not as a primer but as a way to whitewash the previous layer, scraping a thin hazy veil that diminishes the mark making and aura. Images are generated through this constant adding and subtracting as thoughts are mixed together eventually finding solace in color, symbols, and texture.
Brian C O'Malley
bomaomalley@gmail.com