Purpose of this Blog

I decided to start this blog in anticipation for my residency at the Cite International des Arts. I will be leaving for Paris on August 31 and remain there until the October 31st. To give you a bit of insight as to what I hope to accomplish while in Paris, here is a copy of my application essay for the residency:

The Graduate Cité Residency Award is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to investigate and translate late 19th century French painting into my creative practices. As a new millennium artist my work investigates contemporary social practices and the art historical through the dynamic continuum of representational painting. The collection at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris prominently features 19th century paintings that deal with similar subject matter. I am applying for the Graduate Cité Residency Award in order to study this collection in detail. I believe that studying these paintings in person is vital to the creation of relevant contemporary paintings that engage these two distinct subject matters.
My thesis paintings describe a transitional phase in which college students are navigating social order and individual identity as they move into adulthood. The painting Triumph 48 (slide # 20) depicts a scene in which students are performing a keg stand, which is a ritual emblematic to this period. Students often document these activities, but give little aesthetic consideration to photos they post on Facebook. These photos are casual in nature, meant to be easily accessible, and focus on documentation. In contrast, I seek to represent the importance of these activities and the transitional phase they signify by creating paintings that take into consideration the aesthetic qualities of the activities and of the images themselves, which is the historical practice of painting.
By using the history of painting as a technical foundation I provide space for contemplation and exploration that the photograph does not offer. The amount of time it takes to make a painting along with the necessity to see the painting in person, invite the viewer to spend more time with them and thereby consider the significance of what is depicted. It is painting’s permanence and tradition that announces the substance of this brief, yet complex transitional phase and asks the viewer to reflect on its meaning. During this time of reflection the onlooker considers the fundamental question of how an individual relates to others. Ultimately this leads to questions about what those relationships mean and what is their importance.
For my thesis work, I drew upon the paintings of Gustave Courbet and Thomas Couture. I looked to Courbet’s naturalistic depiction of everyday life along with his use of scale, and paint application. His painting Funeral at Ornans used the entire social structure of his community as a morally neutral representation of the plebian. This is where he defers from Thomas Couture. Couture’s Romans of the Decadence presents a moralizing narrative, while Courbet’s Funeral used little comprehensible hierarchy of figurative arrangements to convey a message. I seek to find a balance between the two artist, using art historical poses as visual clues to move the viewer through the painting, while incorporating directly choreographed and replicated scenes from Facebook photos.
The stylistic choices I make in the creation of these paintings reflect the complexity of the transitory period experienced during college. I do not stick to one specific style and often vary between the two ideologies represented by Courbet and Couture. Both these artist represent competing forces of romanticism, rationalism and realism that I use in representing social interactions.
The Cité Award offers a distinct and necessary opportunity to study the collection at the Musée d'Orsay. The majority of the works in the collection explore the commonplace. By studying them in person I will gather clues as to how to use painting as a form of representation to explore the everyday. While in residence at the Cité, I propose to create a series of drawings and small paintings that interpret the themes of these paintings in a contemporary manner. These studies will be used in the continued creation of large-scale paintings that explore contemporary social interactions. The time spent at the Cité will serve as a good transition period into broader subject matter that takes into account different cultures. For this reason, I especially look forward to interaction with international artists in residence at the Cité, and the opportunity to display work in the exhibition space.
As a painter, the experience of being in front of a painting, especially large-scale paintings, is critical. During the act of making, my first engagement with a work is at arms length. Seeing a piece in its entirety is largely foreign to the experience of the actual object. Romans of the Decadence filling my cone of vision will be much more informative than seeing an image of the painting on my computer screen. Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Florence and study the Botticelli’s in the Uffizi. In the fall semester I was working on creating a painting with the concept of the Three Graces, trying to copy the trees in The Primavera into my painting. Working from a book, I only knew Botticelli’s painting in a flat printout. The work had no physical presence, which led to the result of a rote replication. After viewing the painting in the spring I was able to translate and interpret the idea of a sacred grove into my painting Triumph 48. It is of the utmost importance to be in the physical presence of these paintings in order to learn translation and not mere replication.
My studio practice is focused on what I see as a necessary need to balance immediate, image based web culture and the history of painting. This bridging of the gap between the vernacular and the historical was a common theme in the late 19th century French painting featured at the Musée d'Orsay. Therefore, the Paris Residency would offer a unique and practical experience that is not only relevant but also critical to my artistic practice and development. For these reasons I believe that Graduate Cité Residency is an important next step in my growth as an artist.