Artist Statement

There’s a lotta things about me you don’t know anything about, Things you wouldn’t understand. Things you couldn’t understand. Things you shouldn’t understand.” Pee Wee Herman

Pee Wee got it half right, but I believe that like most of us, there were a lot of things he didn’t understand about himself. For me, painting is free and ready access to the subconscious, like dreaming while awake. Except for my political work, I don’t spend a lot of time planning my paintings. One image seems to lead to another like going down a corridor and opening doors to see what’s there. I try to allow the pictures to make their way to the canvas on their own, often changing them significantly as I work. Not knowing where they will end up makes the process fun and intriguing.

 I believe all of us have endless landscapes to explore within ourselves. Probably artists are more inclined to go to these places and remember what they see. We take our sketchbooks with us and bring back pictures to show our friends. Hopefully these pictures say something about all of us.

 “You may not be interested in war but war is interested in you”  Leon Trotsky

 Although turning inward is my first instinct and love, I can’t always stay inside my head and ignore what’s going on in the world. When the circus turns especially ugly or when a   good idea appears, I feel the need and responsibility to make some kind of comment. Humor and satire have been my way to confront serious topics which are often too grim to portray directly. There is always some satisfaction for me in pointing out the absurdities of human behavior and making fun of the villains of the day. I don’t know if this kind of work has any effect on the situation, but at least it has a therapeutic value for me and others of like mind. Many times I’ve heard “thanks for painting a picture of how I feel”.  That’s good enough for me.

 “Look, we either all come from monkeys or we’re supposed to be like this, and I don’t like it either way” Reverend Chris Gross

 Despite our imperfections and all the trouble we cause ourselves I still have affection and hope for our species. At times I try to overcome my cynical tendencies and create work that explores the positive and mysterious aspects of the human experience.

The fact of our existence is the greatest riddle. We are all in our own way trying to make sense of this powerful and beautiful mystery that we find ourselves immersed in. I believe is it well worth appreciation and contemplation. Gauguin in his famous painting asks  “Whence do we Come? What are We? Whither are we going?” For me, those questions are always worth trying to answer.

 Mark Bryan  2013