Artist Statement

 

“If I knew where the good songs came from, I’d go there a lot more often.” 

- Leonard  Cohen  

 

  Appropriating nature and technology as a starting point, my painting process is like a journey without a map. I'm often surprised how the work turns out.

 

In my process accidents can happen. Various layers are built-up, fused and then sometimes scraped off. The wax medium can work in mysterious ways.

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 I welcome these accidents; they help to shape the aesthetics and the archeology of the paintings. They point me in the direction the work wants to take. 

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I look at every painting as an experiment, an exploration and also a collaboration between my plans and the painting’s.

 

Sometimes the work becomes a mirror reflecting the world I’m trying to make sense of. Other times it’s a window into a place I’d like to escape to.

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If I hadn’t become an artist, I probably would have been a scientist (if I was better at math). I strive to understand the nature of things.

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-- Russell Thurston, 2020