My paintings are a continuation of my childhood admiration and affinity for objects.
At the age of 8, I was taking photos with an old film camera. My pictures of bicycle wheels, sewage pumps and other inane objects vexed my parents, but predicted my future creative production. I developed a sensitivity for the mundane. Bored with school, I filled the margins of my notebooks, turning circles into spheres, creating 3 dimensional objects from any shape or printed word. Attributing personality and life to objects matured into an empathy for all of the world's substances which pervades my current work. Each object, place and person have a spirit that comes from their conception. There is a spark of the designer within it. In the process of painting something, I am respecting that fire of creativity while giving the painting its own artistic force.
As a result of my process of repeatedly destroying the painted image, then recreating it, I find the life that the object possesses.
This creation, destruction and evolution leads to the finished piece. The prior images may remain or be obscured, but the remnants are there. It is an analogy for life.
My process has been augmented with color theory, atmosphere, edge quality and experimentation. The image is drawn using graphite and brushed around with thinner. The background color is blocked in, pulling the graphite into the paint and using it to darken and tone down the edges. This layer is thin, and the ground of the board can reflect through. This increases the intensity of the color and by brushing, scraping and rubbing, the color can be accented. I am constantly learning and experimenting with my paintings.
Mike McSorley
