MAY – JULY 2024
OUT OF ABSTRACTION
Daniel Rona
934 at CMH
Concourse B
On view through July 8th
About
I create art much like solving a puzzle, or maybe sometimes like playing a chess game. Painting becomes a game of both theory and intuition – My work above all is the exploration of my imagination, riding the line of representation and abstraction.
The subjects I chose to paint are often brought out through my train of thought and recalled memories of previous studies or past paintings. Starting as muddled piles of color, loose line work, and texture I continue to push and pull elements of the painting giving priority to color and form that I find throughout the process. While my work begins with quick gesture and mark making, it under goes stages of carefully refined details when nearing the end to balance my compositions. I chase the idea that I can always create something entirely new even after every painting.
While I love painting, drawing is a crucial part of my process in which I sink my thoughts into my sketchbook and “let my pen do the work”. I jot down notes and fill pages with random illustrations that come to me – in particular, thumbnail sketches of possible compositions that fuel future paintings. Because my approach to painting is often freestyled, it becomes an essential practice for visualization that can be always referenced if I am stuck on something.
I started painting and drawing during childhood after obsessing over the graffiti and cartoons I watched everyday. Since then, previous inspirations have assimilated with contemporary painting movements and artists that are subconsciously referenced through my work with my use of texture, colors, and surreal like imagery.
Work is available direct through the artist’s website.
Show Statement
OUT OF ABSTRACTION
Out of abstraction refers to how my paintings develop throughout the process in a push and pull bout of messy brush strokes and slowly worked areas to build up the forms as they appear to me. These are portraits of creative adventurers, the spawns of intuition and lurkers in my imagination.
The figures that are defined with an “X” draw from my previous work – a red and white stripe shirted, human-like character who traverses the harsh, weird, and colorful landscapes of my imagination. I use this specific style of painting to visualize the creation of ideas and highlight things that make painting fun for me; messy line work, colorfields, texture, or the fun of just starting. I picture the colorful offshoots and tangles as structures for an “idea” to form off of.
