PaintingsDIRECT:
Most of your works on the PaintingsDIRECT website are paintings of live models. What is it that particularly appeals to you about nude models as subjects?
Caryl Roberts:
I have been drawing the human figure as far back as I can remember. In 1946 the Museum of Natural History in New York City sponsored "Young America Paints". In that exhibition I exhibited a pastel painting of many dressed figures roasting marshmallows. The hands and feet were depicted as ovals and the heads were rounded with features...I'm still working with figures. Now I have the faces, feet and hands accurately drawn but I've eliminated the clothing.
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West Palm Beach (1997)
Caryl Roberts
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Contemplation (2000)
Caryl Roberts
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PaintingsDIRECT:
Please tell us about your painting technique, your use of vertical brushstrokes and translucent washes. Has your technique evolved over time?
Caryl Roberts:
Just as every person has a way to write on paper, so, too, an artist holds the brush or pencil to the working surface. Everyone holds the writing or artistic tool in a way that is most comfortable for them. Over the years I have found that using basically vertical lines is the most comfortable and rapid way for me to enunciate my ideas. And I have evolved the transparent veils and fragmented surfaces to indicate several reactions to the model. Some represent a sense of mystery, others the tension between the model and myself. Mostly these effects are like the counter movement in a symphonic piece.
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PaintingsDIRECT: How do you accomplish the overlaying and integration of figure poses?
Caryl Roberts:
This question goes to the heart and substance of my paintings. I do not direct the model’s movements so I have no idea what the finished painting will be. As the model begins the session with short poses, I rapidly paint in the first pose. That sets the stage for the intellectual analysis and placement of each of the new poses. I try to connect, intertwine and overlap these poses. It becomes an intricate puzzle to be solved -- which movement to emphasize, which to recede or abandon. Some paintings featuring several models are painted over a period of weeks. After the initial session(s) I then work without the model(s) to clarify and enhance the painting.
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Pony Tail (1998)
Caryl Roberts
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Serene Morning (2000)
Caryl Roberts
Burst of Energy (2000)
Caryl Roberts
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PaintingsDIRECT:
There is an element of fragmentation in quite a few of your works, such as Burst of Energy and Serene Morning. How is this accomplished and how does it affect the interpretation of these works? How is this accomplished and how does it affect the interpretation of these works?
Caryl Roberts:
Both paintings show a model at ease. Upon closer examination they are quite different. Serene Morning contrasts the softness of the body with the hard edge of the chair upon which she is seated and the model’s large angled hair clip. The vertilinear lines are very fine throughout the painting. There is a very delicate definition of body, chair and background. Colors are muted and blend together. Here, the fragmentation is what I characterize as a cracked eggshell effect, refined and delicate. It slides across the midriff as a modesty cover echoing the covering across her lap. The broken shell lines drift delicately around the body, not within. These were lines worked into the painting as I proceeded. I was very taken with the elegant, refined manner of the model.
In complete contrast is Burst of Energy. This I painted more aggressively. The double pose of the same model crosses dramatically within the center of the painting surface. Vertilinear lines are much coarser and there are very few detailed features. The color range is more strident and the fragmentation emphasizes the electric energy of the painting, ripping across the surface with
little regard for the model. This model I have painted in the past and he has always had very dynamic action poses. Obviously I reacted emotionally.
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PaintingsDIRECT:
Veils appear in many of your works. What do they represent, or what function do they serve?
Caryl Roberts:
Veils have played an important part in my paintings. As in a musical composition, they can highlight a minor or major theme. In my painting Circle of Friends the veil creates a minor counter point which weaves and moves around and behind the figures. In Tattoo the veil becomes a major theme filling a third of the painting. It echoes en masse the tattoo on the model's arm. Veils require the viewer to stop and analyze the "why", perhaps filling in their own explanation.
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Circle of Friends (1999)
Caryl Roberts
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Fall (1994)
Caryl Roberts
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PaintingsDIRECT:
Of famous artists, living or deceased, who have most inspired you or influenced your work, and in what ways?
Caryl Roberts:
I've pretty much gone my own way over the years. I've traveled extensively and museum hopped around the world. As to being influenced by a famous artist, I find that a hard question to answer. I can recall only one experience where I was influenced by another artist. In my third year of college, having worked at Pratt Institute and the Sorbonne, I transferred to Columbia University's School of the Arts. There John Heliker, a most respected artist, was instructing the painting course. His manner was gentle as were his comments. Most members of the class were well into painting careers. At the time I had no idea as to his painting style and he didn't indicate to me his preference. So at the end of the year's course, I was astonished to discover that I had emulated his work. I guess that was the last time that I paid attention to my instructors. Somehow everything worked out fine. I'm still going my own way.
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View more artworks by Caryl Roberts ...
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