Ward Schell
Artist Statement
The foundations of my work are derived from the influence of post pop art hyperrealist painters Richard Estes, Don Eddie, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close and pioneer Saskatchewan artist, Ernest Lindner. My work is driven by the representational documentation of nature within the micro confines of shape, contrasts and texture.
In my work I am drawn to the frontality of surface in the landscape by disregarding the horizon line of traditional landscape painting. This permits me to work with seemingly banal subjects in the landscape and stage them by dramatically cropping their composition within the picture plane. The zooming in on the subject allows the narrowing of my reference point and can give the landscape more weight, density, texture and spatial tension. By superimposing semi transparent layers of colour one on top of the another, I attempt to capture the nuanced play of light on the textured surfaces.
wardschell 