Leah Van Rees
Montgomery Center, VT - United States
Leah Van Rees - Fine Artist
Member Since: 06/21/2010
I translate the physical world around me by examining and exaggerating small details of seascapes and landscapes often overlooked by individuals. These specific elements are illustrated through use of intricate pattern, variety of brushstroke, opacity of paint and vivid colors. As a painter I reflect my world but remold it in a way that investigates the authenticity of reality and different ways of seeing. This way of seeing edits the real world and transforms individual objects and their groupings, by recreating the scene through a variety of patterns and brushstrokes that evolve into an independent space.
The process begins by looking at a photograph, remembering an image, or a sketch from life, which is then roughly painted in order to create an overall composition. As I work into the painting, I become more observant of the patterns the image encompasses and naturally leads to: straight lines, undulating lines or recurrence of a particular shape. Through repetitive motion of the connection between hand and pallet knife, thickened paint emerges into organic forms. I work with glazes, transparencies, opacities, and consistencies, creating variety by contrast emulating that of the natural world. Color is important in emphasizing particular shapes and patterns, giving them life through vibrancy that explores and exaggerates the colors seen in nature. Throughout the process I try to keep an open mind, allowing myself to trust my instincts, so that the painting is genuine and evolves fluently.
I want the viewer to leave their reality as I do when I create my work, entering into the space through the properties of the painting. I am inspired by the configuration of the natural and I want to enlighten the viewer by illuminating often disregarded fragments found within a larger context and convey their individual importance through the medium of paint.
