ARTIST STATEMENT

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Places stop me in my tracks.  Places burn into my mind.  Memory changes the landscape in captivating ways.  As I reflect on these remembered places they evolve and change as they are savored.  My memories develop and simplify and get stripped down to their essence.  They grow with saturation and intensity until I can contain them no longer.  I then physically engage this contained energy to create my work.

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My landscapes have an abstract feel with recognizable forms to convey a sense of discovery and mystery.  My work is further characterized by bold marks, smooth surfaces, and expressive lines. The silhouettes of my works are filled with saturated darks that are loaded with color; deep chocolate browns and warm burgundies.  From this darkness emerges the warmth of light.  I seek concentrated landscapes where twilights shadows melt the suns raking light and atmosphere diffuses the view.  This Chiaroscuro gives us all that is in between.

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I create in two separate mediums; oil painting and kiln-glass.  My oil paintings inspire the kiln-glass work and my kiln-glass inspires the oil paintings.  There is a constant dialogue between the two.
With these works I want to make the viewer feel the energy and mood and to provoke the viewer to think about the dynamic relationships in their lives.  I want the viewer to experience the sensuality of darkness and the uplifting inspiration of light.  This relationship between light and dark mirrors the experience of all that is life.  In future series I am eager to further explore this subject matter particularly relating to working on large scale installations that viewers can immerse themselves in.

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-Christopher Perry