June 2006
Elaine Foster
Vancouver, BC
CANADA
http://valerian.araneum.ca/
valerian@araneum.ca
ARTIST STATEMENT
Although painting is considered a traditional medium, I prefer to work around time-honored techniques in favor of a method with which I have found considerable success.
The non-traditional aspect of my technique is that I use both acrylic and oil on the same surface at the same time. I use black acrylic paint to "draw" my subject, as one would sketch with India ink. Once the acrylic is dry, vibrantly colored oil paint is thinned into a transparent glaze, and applied over the surface as a stain. This allows the detail of the acrylic "drawing" to show through clearly, and permits the bright whiteness of the canvas to keep the oil colors intense. The result has a very stylized and painterly look. However, I like to spend as little time as possible completing the piece in order to preserve this sketch-like appearance. Too much time spent on correcting mistakes in the final stages can lead me to overwork it, making it muddy and opaque, and obscuring the acrylic drawing beneath. Because of the speed at which I work, and my tendency to let my hand run wild without correction, some features become unintentionally exaggerated and distorted, giving an otherwise bland portrait a considerable amount of character. In addition, I have been known to incorporate oil pastel and fingernail varnish, as well as broken mirror fragments, metal chain, dried flowers, hard candy, jewelry and other found objects into the image. So much for tradition!
I am most fascinated with figurative work, predominantly in the form of portraits. My work of the past 14 years has consisted almost entirely of female portraits - most of them being images of European fashion models. These women have influenced me more profoundly over North American models, because of their look of extreme confidence, their dramatic physical features, and graceful ability to wear the most provocative and even ludicrous fashions by cutting-edge designers. Even so, unlike most portrait painters, I believe rendering accuracy is secondary. I prefer to capture the essence of the individual, rather than produce an exact photographic likeness. My greatest influences have been from certain painters and illustrators of the late 19th century and early 20th Century, who made famous such styles as Art Nouveau and Expressionism. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Edvard Munch, Edward Gorey and Aubrey Beardsley are among those who have made the greatest impact on me, each with their own unique way of presenting the human portrait. Added to these is an admiration for the vibrant silk-screen work of Andy Warhol, whose high-contrast style has influenced the look of my technique the most.
