Mythic City: Oil Paintings
Artist Statement
Mythic City is an ongoing series of work, made as a highly subjective record of the people I encounter as I move through the city of Chicago. Since I work from memory, however, they are not traditional portraits, but rather composites of different features and expressions. It may be the lined and thin-lipped mouth of that pensive man on the train, or the heavy eyes of that woman in the coffee shop, staring blankly at a newspaper. These and other half-remembered fragments bubble up during the painting process. Often, I add fantastic or mythic elements to a piece. Deposed kings and queens lose themselves in past glories, devils plot new schemes, and the entire crowd transforms into a chaotic parade where each participant has a hidden story.
