David Foss

 

Artist Statement

My paintings are primarily about transformation and how consciousness changes over time in a never-ending flow of awareness. Throughout the creative process, my paintings serve as a mirror for an introspective investigation of my self and my ever-changing states of consciousness, emotions, and the world within and around me. I express these personal and subjective experiences using commonly known or universal forms, patterns, and colors that can communicate to anyone no matter their background or culture. I want my paintings to be emotional signposts of change, development, and transformation beyond the boundaries of the everyday rational mind.

I express my interests in awareness and the passage of time, through the juxtaposition of opposing elements such as order and chaos, transparency and opacity, micro and macro views, stabile forms and form that are in transition into other ways of being. This struggle of opposites is my way of expressing that life is always in a continuous state of change and to appreciate this natural law, one must momentarily stop the chatter of the mind and just be fully in the present moment. To freely open one’s awareness to the painting without the limits of reason, preconceived ideas, or judgments. To momentarily stop time and make visually accessible the subtle beauty and poetry of the invisible forces of energy that swirl around us.

  
  To achieve this unifying experience in my paintings, I emphasize the fluidity and tactile immediacy of the materials by using the techniques of staining, pouring, and flowing the paint across the canvas while it lies flat on my studio floor. To counterbalance these spontaneous forms of expression, I also create organic forms and geometrical structures, which bring a sense of solidity and stability to the pictorial space. The different visual languages and symbols are competing forces in flux and actively take part in determining the final state of the painting. As with all of life, we are each made up of diverse opposing forces, which continually act upon us and shape who we are and what we may become at a particular, unique moment in time.

Short:
David at Work

Streaming Video

Quicktime Movie
(132MB)

 
July 2007
  
 

Studio:
704 Catharine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-574-1418
david@davidfoss.com