Eve Hennessa
Biography
Born North Carolina,USA

Eve Hennessa
Artist Statement
09/06

My life as a painter is like a monastic refuge where freedom, purity, peace, truth and beauty are sought and lived.

One collector described my work as possessing an inherent mathematical precision. For me, painting is about a spatial, light and color sensibility, rather than a deliberate method or process. When I begin a painting, I saturate the paper with water. I am either craving some special color or idea, or have no idea what to do and so experiment with different colors and forms. After the piece starts to take form, I look to see where it is going and to find what it is trying to communicate. A relationship then forms between the piece and myself and a process of reflection, trial and error ensues. It is exciting process, full of surprises, and I never know what will come next.

I find great enjoyment in watching colors collide in the water. I am intrigued how some blend in to another, and how where the paper is drier, the paint forms an edge. I delight in filling up the bathtub and slipping the paper in to soak. I love to see it wet under the water. In the summer I use more red, in the autumn more brown.

The pictures may look like the sky, microscopic entities, jewels, train tracks, a meadow or aerial view maps. Frequently in my paintings there are minute lines and subtle colors, a very light touch, a listening to a whisper. Some subtle details can only be seen up close. The drawing in my work is a kind of intimate vision. It is a drawing of the barely perceptible or the theoretical. String Theory and God are themes for me, they have a lot in common, and both similarly explain the invisible worlds and the non-continuum of time.

The following are major influences:
1. Large-scale scrolls from the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1662). Enormous (10 feet high) landscapes with tiny one-inch figures. I love the peace and solitude of these paintings and the relationships between the large (infinite) to the small (individual). You must get close, look more deeply and draw near to fully discover the painting.
2. The celestial light and color of Rococo church painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770),
3. The luminous, ethereal and harmonious colors of late medieval church painting (also found in classical Chinese and Japanese) green, gold, yellow, pink, blue.
4. The water lilies of Monet (1840-1926).
5. The freedom and play of sculptor Alexander Calders Circus (1898-1976).
6. Childlike lines and color of Paul Klee (1879-1940).
7. The obsessive lines of Mexican schizophrenic folk artist Martin Ramierez (1895-1963).
8. Japanese painting in the use of paper and high quality pigment watercolor and inks, and the emphasis on the inherent beauty and tactile quality of the materials. The feeling of water and purity of color is never lost to the pictorial.
9. The serendipity, use of mishaps and appreciation of the human touch in Japanese pottery.

The themes of the visible and the invisible are constant in my work. The visible is a representation of the invisible, just as the expression on a face reveals unspoken feelings. for me there is a steady stream of communication between the two. I am convinced that a creator of indescribable beauty is demonstrated by blue, pink, yellow, green etc! My work is an expression on paper of what I know and/or perceive.