Swim Dream
64'' wide x 84'' high

Sam Sartorius

Artist Statement

Emotion, dream and reality. Where real and unreal can coexist through a sensuous viewpoint. Simply stated, my paintings are emotional landscapes. An abstracted space that memory, actuality or subconscious has reconfigured to project the essence of place. Recording life around me as in a journal documenting ideas and experiences. Providing focused information in blurred fashion, implying rather than telling. It’s walking the line of specific ambiguity.

Brush strokes are directed from the spine rather than the wrist so that the movement encompasses a passionate force. Rhythms and tempos are varied through mark making and the canvas turned throughout the painting process so the energy is in motion. Colors are chosen for it’s psychological capacities that reinforce the voice of the painting. Expression through color either subtly or aggressively to serve the full range of emotion in the face of life and love.

My paintings are process oriented, meaning a series of action directed towards a result. The desired outcome isn’t necessarily a finished painting but the understanding that lies behind going from one place to another. The paintings hold a push pull of ideas and questions layered by means of drawing, painting and glazing. The chronicle of the painting has work and rework between the known and the unknown. The exploration and decision-making are a significant element that keeps the painting authentic and very much in the moment. Rich surfaces are built through the sequence of addition and subtraction. And as the painting progresses, resolve is not about what you can add, but rather when there is nothing else to take away. Resolution emerges from the backside when least expected, although most appreciated.