Dan Wine
Artist's Statement
I enjoy people watching, and I enjoy considering where they are going and what they are doing. I enjoy finding and sharing the imagery for environs in which those activities might take place or that others... and, yourself... may simply find as compelling as I. These observations are most successful, I find, when I can fuse the two into an interesting narrative. Perhaps, it is a reality, or maybe it is a fiction? It is the activity of the individual and anticipation of some adventure beyond the 'norm' or some quiet contemplation in which they are engaged that interests me. Thus, you will find that the greater body of my work considers the figure or the portrait in a narrative environment or rendered with dignified recognition. How can I say something about my subjects that gives them significant artistic 'weight'? Specifically, I just want to talk about the activities of people, and I want to do so in a fashion that all can enjoy. No politics, no esoteric banter... just appreciation of an act, a person, a locale... maybe some nostalgia, some humor, or civil consideration.
Physically, I am a painter that desires to understand an array of styles and techniques, and use that array to seek what I have come to define as a balance of economy and faithful representation. I attempt to accomplish this with a means that is rigid enough to entice the viewer at distance, but at the same time maintains a ‘playful’ manner upon closer inspection. Composition, patterns of light and dark, colors, the shape and number of strokes used are all carefully observed, considered, and distilled. Strokes that are more than just colorful place holders define not only themself, but shape, form, and context. Like some sleight-of-hand magic trick, the viewer may find themself looking for a great deal of minutia where there is, ultimately, very little. I find this compelling, and I enjoy observing it in others work. I certainly enjoy observing it in my own. Regardless of subject, I seek to amuse the attendee with the simple portrayal of what may have been conceived at once as very complex. Though, the critic might say that this is not always the case, it does figure highly into the thought I give a piece. Hopefully, that thought and that artistic endeavor are received with the same casual fluidity of meaningful and enjoyable conversation. This is our dialogue you see… yours and mine.