Monday, March 5, 2012

Ben Boothby

I spotted artist Ben Boothby on Artist A Day today. At first his work appeared quite graphic but if you look at how he layers them they are pretty painterly. I particularly like his Bedroom Window series.

This is what Boothby says about his work...... 'My paintings are built entirely from my memories of important architectural moments. I aspire to create visualizations of the way memories exist in our minds.
Memory exists in a state of flux, when we try to pin it down, to hold it for a second so we can examine details and feelings, it will not sit still. I strive to record the flittering pulsation of a memory when it is vibrating in self-contradictions and shifting contexts. The other key visual characteristic of memory is repetition. It is the way we strengthen memories, and its layered associative nature becomes a series of looping visuals.
Every painting begins by rebuilding a specific architectural space from memory to create a full perspective line drawing. The drawing is silk-screened onto the panel within the first few layers. After that the painting takes an abstract approach, fluctuating between obscuring the drawing and bringing it back to the surface.'