david kroll
new paintings
september 5 – october 31, 2014
i paint personal refuges and interior landscapes - places to visit for solace and sanctuary. much of my work is intuitive. i try to create a connection – however fleeting - between the viewer and the power of landscape, the web of life, the idea of nature itself.
i think about the natural world not as an expendable resource but as a memory of home, the subject of longing and dreams. and i am fascinated by vessels, the egg, the nest, the bowl, the landscape, the sky- the parts of nature that hold and contain, whether natural or man-made. my paintings are also about contrast- the contrast between light and dark, movement and stillness, civilization and wilderness. these have been central themes of my work for many years
my blank canvases are approached without a predefined image and the painting is developed in a slow, organic way. painting in refined layers allows me to explore the narrative and emotional content of each composition over time. using this method, i try to express why a sunset fills us with wonder, why a certain quality of light can make a busy day suddenly still, and why the momentary sound of a bird call can seem - for that instant - like the most important thing in the world.
--david kroll, 2014