Inside and Outside Landscapes - At the Ballweg Gallery in June 2024

Artist Statement

My paintings investigate pain and difficult situations through representation and allegory. With influences ranging from Frida Kahlo to contemporary painter Jammie Holmes, I work in a Surrealist style to explore questions and emotions that arise as I navigate through life.

Drawing inspiration from encyclopedias, folk art, scientific drawings, old sourcebooks, photographs and images that I have collected, I begin my process by making preliminary sketches. After I have refined an idea, I loosely transfer a drawing to the painting surface. While I may execute an idea faithfully, more often I work intuitively, allowing the images to change as I proceed. I also prefer to use color in unconventional and evocative ways. Animals appear frequently in my paintings. They may possess known mythical qualities or represent a particular trait or feeling state.

While each work relates to a personal experience, my paintings allude to universal themes of pain and loss in an attempt to connect with the viewer. I create art to heal, to help me cope and to survive. While my work is an honest expression of subjective experience, the imagery allows for multiple interpretations — I always appreciate hearing what others see in my work and how it relates to their own lives. Art elicits emotion and can help us relate to one another, and I believe there is no more universal experience than pain as it transcends any socially constructed categories.

A reception will be held June 9 from 3-6 p.m. in Goodman’s Ironworks.

For more information, visit dougfathart.com.