Deb Douglas: Paintings & etc.
My work is an exploration of pattern and color relationships explored through imagery from popular culture, ads, art history, landscape, and various flora and fauna. The consideration of formal issues, interpersonal issues, implications of prettiness and decorative trappings are often, as in life, juxtaposed with an underlying uneasiness or edginess, to what, on the surface, appears benign.
I want my work to speak to the process of painting; of paint and mark making. The evidence of the activity is what builds a personal history between myself and the picture. Paint can make the most beautiful forms when unhindered by ‘object’. I am, however, an image maker. My paintings sometimes become a struggle between these two ideas. For me, they are most successful when the “pop” image and the pure mark making components can come together on the same surface.
In a sense, my paintings come from not believing what is happening in the world—our society today seems itself an incredible juxtaposition of conflicting messages. The balancing act between art and life, between happiness and sorrow, between nostalgia and melancholy–are daily…no, constant occurances; the ebb and flow of life happening.
My imagery has naturally dealt with those things closest to me. The vocabulary of objects along with the formal mark making let me re-tell a story in a sense. The images serve a purpose of providing an autobiographical reference. They let me tell my own life story in a way that can be shared with strangers. I collect bits and pieces of the past- my past, your past, it doesn’t matter—these sources can be utilized to become a reflection of my present. These works are my documentaries of specific (or timeless?) moments.
