Emily Boucher

Artist Statement

 

When I am viewing my subject matter, I am consuming it visually. Working facet by facet, I distill, savor, and translate the still life before me, reconstructing the visual experience by transposing the image one stroke of paint at a time.

 

Much like the flavors in a recipe, I methodize my colors to enhance one another. I pay particular attention to the intensity of the temperature relationships that develop between the individual strokes of paint. At this micro scale, I work to build connective responses between the colors. Within these small components, I consider both the immediately adjacent colors while simultaneously minding the overall tension across the entire surface of the work.

 

I want the image I create to be a meal of sustenance; I labor to capture the weight, shape, and space of my subjects by examining light with a delicate and determined touch. I want the painting to resonate with my viewer as a true-feeling experience. I want it to be reminiscent of memories of real flavor and real joy.

 

My paintings are rich portions of color, meant to be heartily consumed and enjoyed. For me they are about relationships and about the intricacies of experiencing life’s smaller moments. The size of the pieces is a purposeful part of my art; a viewer must elect to step forward and come closer to the painting to fully experience and consume the play of the paint within the image. In doing so, the viewer enters a space so intimate that a personal relationship is formed between the human body and the surface of the work. In this space, the minuteness of the decisions demand attention and then reward with an abundance of surprising discoveries of freshness and openness in color and mark.

 

The paintings are about the enjoyment that comes from exciting instances of variety- in flavor, texture, and balance- in food, in life, and in art.