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Over, Around, & Through

Connections Elaborate Collaboration II   Dizzy   Shadow Excavations: Spring   Elaborate Collaboration   Through Tears                                Behind the Scenes                                                      Stacks   Pilgrimage Year: September   Pilgrimage Year: October   Pilgrimage Year: December   Pilgrimage Year: August

Cynthia L. Morefield

Artist Statement

A pattern has emerged in my artmaking. I develop a technique to explore a specific artistic challenge, and that interaction with technique and media yields new ideas I’m challenged to express. There’s always a dialogue between process and concept, a dialogue that mirrors my belief that we learn the deepest truths in the process of living rather than from detached analysis. The latter can be a good starting or ending point, but can't stand alone. I don’t explore ideas in art or any other area for mere exploration’s sake, but in order to learn and live truth.

If you entered my studio on any given day, you would most likely find me hammering, gluing, scraping, sanding, sharpening or rinsing … not quite the traditional image of the painter at his easel with palette and brush. I don’t even use brushes in my acrylic work except to apply the final coats of varnish. These paintings are executed on a rigid support. After I’ve built and prepared the support, I use a large putty knife to apply thick layers of paint stiffened with acrylic modeling paste. Sometimes I scratch into the paint while it is still wet. After a layer is dry, I scrape linear marks into it with a wood-working tool called a shave hook, or create tonal areas by rubbing with a sanding sponge or abrasive pad. The initial paint layers are heavy and opaque, but subsequent layers become increasingly transparent. I add layers and rework the surface until the desired image is achieved. Protective varnish is the finishing touch.