December 2003
Lawrence Philp
pronounyo@hotmail.com
Artist Statement:
I am a trained oil painter. I have worked with acrylic paint since 1973. 1 also make mixed media watercolor paintings of a smaller scale. I draw in a sketchbook. I make large acrylic paintings on paper as well as and mixed media drawings. I have also made artwork in the following printmaking formats: relief printmaking, etching, lithography, engraving and woodcut. In addition I have made a series of combination lithography and mono prints.
I paint and draw. I use color, line, shape and texture to express myself. I find paint a very expressive medium. I don't write books so I paint paintings. The subject matter for my painting varies. My paintings are autobiographical in the figurative sense of the word. My paintings rely on color. My paintings rely. on the diversity of figure/ground relationships that I add and subtract during the process of painting I temper some of my volumes. I use atmospheric perspective as a compositional device. I am aware of physics of color. I use bright colors.
I am interested in petroglyphs, Abstract Expressionism, German Expressionism, French Impressionism, Post Modernism, Minimalism and Conceptual Art. I am also interested in Cubism. I think that some of these movements may have influenced my work much as a piano teacher influences the piano student.
I am in my head when I am painting. I paint with music in my head. The Sony Walkman is one of the world's greatest inventions. I have a sense of aesthetics but it is not a glossary that I refer to when I am painting. I endeavor to paint like a jazz soloist. When I think of jazz improvisation I think of painting. Painting for me is the transformation of observation, invention and improvisation: the real conversation that takes place inside of me. My paintings are about the act of painting. I think that one of most important things that I do is paint. I paint because I like to and I paint because 1 need to: words being the elements of form that aren't formed into feelings, sensations and emotions for me. I get in a lot of trouble talking about how I paint. The words are empty words without the work.
In closing let me say that I wish to stay art studio centered as a member of a faculty. I think that the idea of reading, writing, research and presentation are ideas and concepts that are important. When I went to school I went away to learn about making art. I came away from school with some very valuable life experiences, scads of information, a portfolio and the idea that I wanted to teach and make paintings.
