Clockwise from Top Left Corner:
14 x 11 inches Oil on Linen;
Studio Image;
Installation @ LGTripp Gallery in Philadelphia, 2013;
"Manayunk" (66 x 60 inches) Oil on linen;
James Erikson in his Studio;
Last 3: Studio Images
"I make nature-based abstractions with special attention given to layering and surface variety. I want to see the physicality of the process, working, reworking, and scraping down, but still retain a mystery as to how the painting transpired..."
My goal is to make relevant contemporary paintings while paying close attention to art history, to find something new within the tradition of abstract painting. I am drawn to the simple forms of monuments and monoliths but also to their deep connection to life and death. My paintings are not about particular monuments or monoliths but I do want them to function on a similar, basic human level emotionally. I hope they are reflective of the contemporary human experience.
I usually work out ideas on paper using watercolor, ink, and collage. I like to use a similar technique with my paintings. The paint is thin and in collage-like layers. The layers serve to cover, sometimes opaquely, but usually transparently allowing the underpainting to show through. Also, like with collage, I tend to work with one or two colors at a time, building and waiting until an idea for resolution reveals itself.
My ideas lately come from observation of trees: sketching and photographing, leading to a renewed interest in line and drawing.
The Loom at Richmond Mills,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania