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Born in 1956 in Penn Yan, NY, United States 1978, B.F.A., Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 1977, St. Martin's School of Art, London, England |
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"My work has evolved from my love of imagery and a search to find an expressive way to use color. I decided to combine an imagistic vocabulary with a non-objective vocabulary as a way to use color that, instead of conforming naturally to the imagery, responded formally and expressively to the illusionistic space and images I love to draw. My technique slowly evolved with my aesthetic, starting with layers of drawn landscape under layers of color that conformed to a simple grid.
I always start new work by covering a wall with photocopies of images that I collect from any source that catches my eye, whether it is for the sheer beauty of a landscape by Constable, the space created by light in a film still, or simply images of life not visible to the naked eye. Anything that catches my eye is up for grabs. Next, I intuitively start putting images together that evoke a consistent feeling. I then scale the images to each other and start to make a collage where disparate images exist convincingly in the same illusionistic space. Once I feel the piece is complete, I make photocopies of the collage and begin looking for color and an abstract composition that responds formally to the space and emotional tone I have created with the imagery. I then use the same powdered pigments that I will eventually use in the paintings on the photocopies of the collaged composition. I cut up each composition of a single color into the shapes that correspond to the abstract configuration that is best for the piece. I compose the finished study by putting the composition back together with areas taken from the different colored photocopies. Once a definitive color study is made, I will use that as a guide for a painting on wood. In the paintings, the images are drawn with charcoal, which allows me to put the imagery from many diverse sources together seamlessly into a convincing illustionistic space. I also have much more control over the color in the paintings, and depending on the density of the individual pigments, I may put one layer on or ten, in order to achieve the right balance between the intensity and the opacity of the area. I always have the viewer in mind, and my intent is to lead the eye into the space by controlling what is seen first through the use of scale, perspective, and differing degrees of opacity of the color. For example, I can put an opaque area of a warm color over the point in a landscape of the deepest space, sending the eye to the side where it can enter into the picture more easily through an area of cooler, more transparent color. I use cultural signifiers to inspire viewer recognition and the tools of scale to imply a narrative. My main purpose is to provide information by using different pictorial vocabularies that will trigger responses related to a collective conscience. I hope to show the complexities of man and his relationship to nature."
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Selection of works from Rodney White |
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