January 2005
Lawrence Baker
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
artistbaker@yahoo.comMy paintings tend to use the figure as part of the subject matter , both as a primary source for the subject matter. I am concerned with the total design which includes the effects to the viewer. I am trying to evoke a range of emotion and contemplation when looking at the painting. I believe the method of color usage is important. I am trying to evoke emotion through light source how color creates volume , and volume becomes forms.
Color usage affects the spectator's attention , so it is not merely descriptive but a force calculated by me the artist to affect the emotions of the viewer. All forms have been subject to all kinds of emphasis. My approach is to intensify these emotions on the spectators with an implied simplification. Subject matter which includes the figure in my case is reduced to a minor or nominal role. My objective is that all of these elements become harmonious in the eyes of the spectators.
My approach to painting was influenced by watching cartoons and lots of classic movies made in the 1940's and 50's. Watching cartoons and old movies elevated my spirit and comes out in my painting. So I guess the old Tom and Jerry cartoons and old movies such as The Maltese Falton were important for me. Cartoons with such basic shapes are so simple in forms do and show so much. These old movies have a wide range of emotions.
I want my paintings to have the simplicity and clarity of cartoons. I want them to also induce the same expressive qualities of the classic movies. I don't want to reduce my painting to a cartoon or movie poster. I want to deal with problems of painting , such as harmony of colors.
Some painters , I most admire are Jacob Lawrence , Fairfield Porter, and Milton Avery. For me these seem to express and characterize emotion or mood , in a direct and emotional style. Painters whose work is an obvious reference to a cartoon style such as Liechtenstein and Tom Weselman , seem to move me are interested in expressing a parody of emotion, rather than its expression. When I succeed in my original intent of color placement ; the images come to life for me. I hope the spectator shares in emotion and expression of the painting.
