LandEscape Art Review | Page 97

Jeremiah Douglas Stroud

LandE scape

CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW quality . How do you view the concepts of the real and the imagined playing out within your works ?
I think because of my work using the current political landscape mixed with photos from my childhood give this guise of fabrication . You get a blunt attack of honesty mixed with an ambigious personal story that anyone can relate to . The figures are often the on-lookers in the painting / much like the viewers of my artwork . You have to decipher abstract from concrete , real from imagined , or you have to decide that it has the potential to be one in the same .
We would like to pose some questions about the balance established by colors and texture : we have really appreciated the vibrancy of thoughtful nuances that saturate your canvas and especially the way in Her Men they suggest the idea of ephemeral plasticity and even such a tactile feeling . How did you come about settling on your color palette ? And how much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular , how do you develop a painting ’ s texture ?
“ Her Men ” has changed color palettes multiple times . When it first started , it was very cool and mostly made with blues and peach tones . After I looked at my origin photo , I began to notice I was unhappy and crying . This unhappy attitude formed from having to leave a concrete yard rabbit at my Aunt ' s before we left for the vacation . I was also positioned in the third row of the vehicle and became nauseous , so we stopped for Pepto-Bismol to ease my stomach . This , ultimately , altered the color palette . The painting took on a fragmented , flat , dark and murchy application of paint and color . Layers have built up within this painting , and within those layers is a story of my changing emotions toward this moment in my past .
You allow an open reading , a great multiplicity of meanings : associative possibilities seems to play a crucial role in your pieces . How important is this degree of openness ?
I believe it is crucial for the viewer and myself . It lets each persons ' preconceived notion of political identity manifest inside themselves and they have to deal with these feelings . My works should feel confrontational to stir an inner dialogue . The viewer tries to connect these figures of a family and tries to associate them with what is happening around them . I don ' t play one side of the fence and direct the viewer to a certain answer ; instead , it works best when I leave faint pieces of information .
Over these years you have exhibited in several occasions including your recent solo Whispering Secrest of The Present to The Past Self . One of the hallmarks of your work is the capability to create direct involvement with the viewers , who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship . So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience . Do you consider the
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