i am a long time oil painter, inspired by the history and riches of the medium. i have
been energized by every age, period and location. from the caves at Lascaux to
Rembrandt through impressionism, abstract expressionism, divisionism, expressionism
and many other isms and artists too numerous to name have all been influences in
my practice.
i am more concerned with creating a feeling in the work, than stylistic consistency
across the board. i have almost always taken inspiration from the world around me,
and for over twenty-five years of painting have explored all manner of representation
from highly detailed life-size figure paintings through still life, interiors, landscape and
urban pieces. and have in the last few years been exploring and incorporating a more
abstract language into some of the work and using abstraction as an initial exploration
into the feelings of place and experience.
for me, the studio is a laboratory, where all manner of mediums and experiments take
place. the materials themselves are exciting to me, and over the years i have washed
my own linseed oil, created my own varnishes and numerous painting mediums based
on historical research. in addition to exploring various surface treatments and different
paint applications i employ and play with a wide variety of tools aside from brushes to
create a rich repertoire of mark-making.
painting, unlike mass media or the commercials which grout it said Robert Hughes is
meant to be viewed one person at a time. in a contemporary context painting and
drawing cannot help but address the speed and saturation of image making and
instantaneous transfer through the very slowness of process. for this very reason my
work does not always lend itself to easy photo documentation - i want it to be seen in
person.
penny eisenberg 2017