My paintings draw from the colors, lines, and forms in the world around me, from ongoing projects or ideas, or simply from what emerges in the process of putting down paint. I tend to establish, either consciously or unconsciously, a relationship between chance and intention, between limitation and freedom. I frequently work in series, exploring various approaches to address a particular form or idea. I sometimes glue paper or write lines from poems onto a canvas to create depth, texture, or rhythm. Recently, I’ve been drawn to include shapes such as circles, squiggles and squares, allowing for more play and humor. I like reminding myself these are just paintings on canvas, the drips and shapes serving not to represent, but to play against representation.
Note: The titles for some paintings are taken from lines in A Boot’s a Boot, a book of poems by Lesle Lewis, and some paintings include actual lines from these poems, written in pencil on the canvas.
Ricia Gordon
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