Slashed & Slanted
Slashed, Scraped, Stripped, Sliced, and Slanted
A strip of land is “slashed” with orange paint. Wedges “slice” through a face. Color is “scraped”, revealing another color beneath. Details are “stripped” leaving very strong basic shapes. Finally, all are “slanted”; every painting presenting meanings that slant according to the perceptions of the viewers.
The works in this collection are not just content-related, but rely heavily on a concept of form that involves pulling away from the rectangular shape of the framed format. They are all rectangular, but my intention was to defy that format with strong interior shapes and emphasis in the paintings. The smaller glazed works show literal “slicing “by having the images cut and positioned in such a way that the frames themselves become an important statement.
Figures are integral to my interest and expression, as they have been for over 30 years. My larger paintings are more complex in narrative and rely usually on more than one figure and subjects that are combined in unique ways to keep eyes roaming through the visual story. Meanings differ between individual viewers and provide a level of ambiguity that I enjoy in these works.
My usual techniques involving those of the European Symbolists are used, including bold strokes (slashes) and expressionistic brushwork. I have also experimented with the techniques of Bezold effect and Anticerne technique, which make use of contrasts in color and edge quality. I’m still working with these techniques and attempt to get traditional compositions energized with less predictable color combinations. I expect that my work will continue in this direction, but I also want to push more subtle emotions and contradictory moods in facial and bodily poses and expressions as I work on larger canvases.
Our culture is rampant with photographic and film imagery so I get immense pleasure in continuing to paint but especially delight in the surprise and shock that viewers experience when they face these newer paintings. Painting is still powerful expression!
– Pam Chadick-Aloisa