John Paul Kesling
acrylic on canvas, 12”x9” (13 1/4”x10 1/4”
framed), 2019Statement:Painted intuitively, pieced together like clothing sewn by a fugitiveon the run, collage-like paintings emerge from things found alongthe way. Working on multiple surfaces and layering his mediums,the paintings feel like a dream half-remembered, half-improvised.The work is alive like a footprint in still wet mud; a broken branchon a plant with leaves still green to the tip. Scattered acrosscanvases and wood, full of energy and history, figures navigatethrough the paintings in a dream-like haze. Never quite settled inthe moment, the images balance between uncertainty and hope,hypocritical in their declarations of love and loss. Layers of paintand pencil show traces of decisions made along the way, clues toconversations and reference materials pulled from democraticallypacked pockets of "useful" things. At any moment, thecharacters, shapes, and colors seem like they could fall one-by-one-off the surface and onto the floor leaving only a foggymemory behind.

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