Artist Statements 2002-2008

The Bovine Portraits in Hexidecimal Hue are a series of monochromatic oil paintings of cows. The work explores themes of existentialism, portraiture and the impact of the digital on visual experience. Each picture begins with a photograph that is digitally manipulated to produce a monochromatic "head shot", the hue for which is chosen from the 216 colors of the Web palette. The paintings are sub-titled by that color's hexadecimal value.

Before I painted the Bovine Portraits, I had never had any particular interest in cows. That all changed when I rode my motorcycle down to a dairy farm in Bucks County, PA where I met Harold Haldeman. Harold, who was in his 80's at the time, had been born on that farm as had his father and his father before him. He showed me around, fed me cake and talked about the need for a pragmatic (my word) approach to life on the farm. As we stood chatting near a fence, I noticed a number of cows about 20 feet from us. As we talked, it seemed to me that the cows were getting closer, and in fact, within a few minutes they were inches from us. I asked Harold why they had come over expecting him to say it was because he feeds them, but he said that wasn't it at all, that "They are very curious creatures". Wow. Prior to this I had perceived cows in a most remote way-almost like landscape. This was a whole new perspective for me: a personality trait.

That sparked my interest. That, and the sheer magnitude of the creatures. Human beings think of cows as gentle and slow - not threatening at all. Which is mostly true. In fact it is usually the other way around. But there's no escaping the instinctual response one has when confronted at close range by a MUCH BIGGER CRITTER. It is ironic, therefore, that cows as subjects present a near perfect mirror of human frailty, their anatomical idiosyncrasies suggesting a wide range of emotions. The huge eyes and long lashes are at once charming and disconcerting; the heavy brooding brow and steady gaze evoke poignant associations of fear, innocence, anger, and vulnerability. The use of scale and the vivid hues in the paintings help to heighten the sense of drama. Some of them look sad, or contemplative or maybe even a little hostile, but the body of work, as a whole is intended to be humorous as well. For one thing, if you consider the history of portraiture, it is largely a tale of the very rich and/or prominent religious figures immortalized in often self-important displays of wealth and power. In this case I am elevating cattle, a traditional symbol of wealth, to that same stature.

I was further inspired after a visit to the Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY. It was there that I met the 27 year old bovine matriarch Dolly as well as a cow that had escaped from a slaughterhouse in Queens subsequently leading the police and animal control officials on a wild chase through the streets of the borough!

Since embarking upon the project in early 2003, I have completed over 50 Bovine Portraits.

Lust For Life
Lust 4 Life is a series large-scale oil paintings of flowers. Specifically Gerber Daisies, Orchids and Cala Lilies-bold, hearty and physically substantial subjects purchased at flower stalls throughout Lower Manhattan. I take photographs of the flowers which I digitally enhance, adjusting the saturation and levels to create a hyper-real, death defying palette of brilliant color and high contrast, thus creating a point of reference that is static and altered to my design.

The profound sensual and emotional potency of color and the paint itself, high graphic drama and the tension at the canvas' edge are central to my vision. The subjects are addressed in the form of monolithic portraits, either isolated on moody solid colored background or cropped claustrophobically so the image reaches out of the confines of the rectangle. Stylistically, the paintings are influenced in equal parts by Edouard Manet, Andy Warhol and the gigantic billboard advertisements that shroud the buildings along Houston Street. The choice of flowers, Cala Lilies and Gerber Daisies in particular, reflects my experience of the vivid, invigorating and sometimes overwhelming world of New York City. It is a high-energy, demanding environment that elicits that unmistakable "New York Attitude" from it's residents. Composed in equal parts of ambition, persistence, exuberance and, most of all, resilience, this condition is poignantly represented by the daisies as they burst forth from the confines of the canvases. The emotional temperature of these pictures is unmistakable: hyper, pushy, hungry, but smart too.

Afterword
This body of work began with the orchid pictures in the relatively tranquil summer of 2001. After the events of September 11, it was unclear to me how I would ever feel the sense of wonder and enthusiasm described above. I gradually started painting again but my subject matter was confined to the Cala Lilies whose stoic beauty evoked mourning at first, and then hope and stamina. By late 2002, I was painting the Gerber Daisies when some sense of joie de vie, if not equilibrium exactly, was restored to Manhattan and to my own life.

Cherry Biters: Eat Me

The Cherry Biters are a celebration of paint and painting: a fervent physical expression, and the profound sensual and emotional potency of the substance itself.

Derived from photographs of myself, the images are intentionally ambiguous. The biter is captured in mid-chomp, teeth tearing at the fleshy fruit, suspended in a macabre state of pre-demolition. The cherry, half-chewed is often unidentifiable. It could as easily be a hunk of meat or a shiny piece of hard candy. The pictures are decadent, and unabashedly sexual, but my interest is in an impulse more inclusive than lust. These works address the essence of sensual experience, the turbulence of physical existence, in all it's beauty and violence. There is a symbiotic relationship between the literal subject matter: cherry biters, and the means of representation: oil painting. The voluptuousness of the medium is underscored by the sensuality of the chewing, tasting, dripping, juicy images, which are in turn reinforced by the vivid fleshy colors and liberally applied paint.

As the work progresses, my perspective evolves from close to extreme close-up resulting in large renderings of tiny things that are no less complex than that which yielded them up as mere details initially. As my vantage point changes, I am able to get lost in the details. My source image is isolated from context and/or magnified to such a degree that I can no longer perceive it's objective meaning, rendering from such a close perspective that it appears to me as a total abstraction.



Pills, Pills, Pills: Better Living Through Chemisrty

The pill sculptures, like the actual drugs that inspired their design, are pretty, shiny things to chase away the blues or blahs. Emblazoned with text message shorthand or vapid slang, my pills poke fun at viral marketing and our culture's enduring love affair with the quick fix and snappy come backs. Dramatic distortion of scale and a glossy finish bring levity and a sense of the bizarre to these pieces. Yet these pieces are not entirely light hearted. The pedestals, cheap copies of Greco-Roman style, are a nod to what I see as near deification of prescription drugs and the inherent instability of a society that relies upon them so much.

Whether it is embodied in the promise of modern medicine to swiftly dispense with physical or emotional "obstacles" with a short course of pharmaceuticals, or the substitution of characters on a screen for real human interaction, these works address the means by which we attempt to process the complexities of contemporary human experience.

Attraction, Repulsion and Scrutiny: Flies and Snout by Edie Nadelhaft

scru - ti - ny noun, plural -nies.
1. a searching examination or investigation; minute inquiry.
2. surveillance; close and continuous watching or guarding.
3. a close and searching look.

My current work is an exercise in scrutiny. The imagery is taken from the natural world and distorted through photography and digital manipulation. The scale is altered and the perspective changes from close to extreme close-up as the subject evolves from a cow's face to a detail of that face culminating in a portrait of a greatly enlarged creature found roaming the landscape of the cow's furry hide. My expectation is that dissection and magnification will ultimately lead to simplification and clarity. The reality is more like playing with Russian nesting dolls: further investigation reveals the same or an even greater level of complexity - a tiny universe within.

Conflicting impulses and dissociation are of particular interest to me. Subjects that appear on the surface to be one thing but after further consideration suggest something entirely at odds with the first impression. Flies, for instance, are tiny and relatively harmless, yet they are associated (quite rightly) with garbage, excrement and death. An extremely close look reveals delicate, opalescent wings and a broad range of color and texture in the body. The extreme distortion of scale in the paintings renders them monstrous while bringing the beauty of the creature into sharp focus.

In my process as well as my product, I try and strike a balance between fine control and painterly chaos that allows the paint itself to be the real subject of my work. It is the vibrancy and emotional potency of paint and color that makes art exciting and invigorating at its core.