D A N I E L B I L O D E A U
I paint people interacting with paint. Highly rendered human
forms wear non-objective shapes of paint drips and smears on their bodies, or
even take up the paint and spread it on the picture plane as if only a sheet of
glass separates viewer from viewed. Abstraction and realism are reconciled and
juxtaposed as paint in its abstract quality and the human form in its visceral
and defined visual quality are merged, conjoined and mutually affirmed. The
applied viscous color adheres to and glides over the exposed flesh in a manner
sometimes yielding, sometimes defiant. Naturally flowing over and following
form, it underscores the human body as surface and subject; only to deviate
suddenly and renounce the figure for the abstract. Photorealism in the works
denies the limitations of the two dimensional picture plane, while the
abstraction affirms that flatness. A dynamic tension rises between the two that
adds to the viewer’s relationship to both of these elements. In that, my work
recapitulates the historical roots of western art combined with the abstracted
definition of later twentieth century art in an expressive and multi-layered
visual manner. The abstract expressionist schools are now being conformed to
the traditional canons of western realism thus affirming the role of the figure
in art.
In the interplay between realism and abstraction, the
model’s interaction with paint speaks to the creative act. Posing and facial
expression lend the flowing paint markings a metaphorical quality, suggesting
the important creative power of our thoughts and actions and the variously
toned impressions they leave on our lives.