Akenhead's Ice Cream Bar Painting

My colors are inspired by vintage materials, old crayons, textiles, toys. I used to paint in a more representative way, depicting the actual objects, the signs and buildings. Over the past few years, I started to abstract the idea of my own memories, being in a space like a roller rink or playroom; recalling patterns on juice glasses, board games, beach towels. I’d been stacking shapes in my work for some time before I made the connection to my longtime job as a firewood stacker. The way I fit the pieces together, balancing them, supporting against each other, or about to fall, but never quite. Then the shapes became a way to explore color combinations. I use acrylic paint, a lot of color mixing, layers, in person you might see the texture of the canvas or wood, shapes are smooth edged but a little messy. Vibrant and murky colors side by side. I love trying to get the look of layers of old paint on the side of a building or a piece of furniture. Where you can read the surfaces. You can see ridges of paint strokes, or you see the grain beneath, so the paintings become tactile like the sculptures. I realized that my most recent paintings represent an aspect of who I am and where I am. Both a more optimistic side of myself, as well as the wistful side of me that longs for something I can’t describe. When I painted vintage cars or phone booths, I was interested in the nostalgia one might feel for something they can’t quite remember themselves, but can appreciate the object (or image of it) that suggests a memory. I could find great pleasure in looking at such a thing. The process of painting deepened my experience of the subject, and sometimes brought me a story that a viewer would share. Moving to an abstract representation of these ideas was a natural progression in my work. I am finding my personal connection to what I make, linking a formal approach to an emotional, expressive one.