SAMUEL MASSEY
Artist Statement
My art practice has come to be focused on the search for an authentic process. Many artists I admire have a distinctive style. By style, I refer to the relationship between their subjects and techniques. I believe artists that sustain distinctive practices find an honest way to paint. They find a method that reflects their temperament and enables the expression of their interests and influences. Their method becomes second nature. My ever-lengthening list of influences has ensured the steady deepening of my respect for the materiality of oil paint. It also presents me with a myriad of methods from which to draw upon.
Complimenting this technical drive is my instinctive submission to the dramatic narrative, the subject of the painting. The potency of images conveyed through the ubiquitous mediums of photography and film are a constant pull towards finely polished imagery, however; strong subjects alone do not necessarily equate to strong painting. For me, photography operates as a reference and a tool from which to paint but a good painting requires a love of paint itself.