GOYA- DISASTERS OF WAR STUDIES( displayed with Out of Nothing)
October 22 - December 3, 2016
Goya- studies of Disasters of War ( displayed with Out of Nothing)
October 22 - December 3, 2016
Studies of Goya begins with Goya's Disaster of War prints and reflects on early American photography of the Civil War. Taking a photo-journalistic approach to an inner question of humanity suffering the violence of humanity, these oil on wood paintings read as intentionally confused battlegrounds. Figures often blend and fall away into landscape, as they tell "almost" narratives of clan, conflict and vunerability in the face of war. Functioning as a moralistic tool, Goya's prints command empathy; as they confront and warn the future to avoid past mistakes.. In these studies; I sought to paint through Goya's narratives, evoking my personal response to abstract power breaking the physical- the practice of broken thoughts breaking the body. The strong diagonal cross composition found throughout these prints served as a focal point. The soldier's uniform brings emphasis to the organized practice of dehumanization- the crossed backs a symbol of the heightened state of drama. The paintings are my personal dictations from the lessons of Goya, my own scrambled explorations of warning and regret.