Artist Statement
My paintings dance between the figurative and the abstract, narrative and conceptual. Recently my work has turned more political, albeit in subtle and symbolic ways, referencing today’s societal ills, like homelessness and the war in Ukraine. For the Ice Show at MarinMOCA in 2022, I showed a dozen paintings of icebergs with a message of climate change.
The abstract imagery in my paintings and collages is both biomorphic and improvisational. I discover the lyrical shapes through an empathy with the materials. I begin by applying acrylic paint or spraying enamel onto paper, canvas or wood panel without any predetermination.
This art making is where I feel free to let go, be intuitive and express in a personal way. To bring an unencumbered and joyous feeling to the process, I listen to the music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. The intuitive orbs and arabesques of black enamel paint that emerge resemble musical scores set free from their staves. Jazz was the music of the Abstract Expressionist era, so appropriating that style, method and gesture is necessary. I believe in the conviction that emotional and artistic truth arises from improvisation, from the unconscious and is channeled through discipline, imagination and impulse.
I also reference biomorphic surrealism as a source with starbursts, flowers, eyes, flames, and seedpod forms, as well as the typographic elements. Joan Miro’s shape making and Robert Motherwell’s painterly strokes come to mind.
I’ve shown my work in a variety of settings including Sofie Contemporary Arts in Calistoga, The Marin Museum of Contemporary Art in Novato, the SFMoMA Artists Gallery, the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and the Reactor Gallery in Toronto, Canada.
– William Russell