As of this writing, my most popular work lies within the "Conversations in Grey", a group of eighty-five mixed-media drawings, paintings, and painted bas-reliefs. When I began the series in 1983, it was my intention to simply express the joys, sorrows, hopes and fears of being human. I wanted to address how we treat each other in our everyday life by illustrating the pain/pleasure dichotomy so prevalent in interpersonal relationships. The initial works of this series were unobtrusive pastel drawings with perhaps a touch of paint. However, just as the simplicity and purity of life becomes masked with layers of disguise and deceit, my subsequent paintings, drawings and constructions have become increasingly complex and decreasingly palatable, both in form and in content. This in turn has become the impetus for creating other works .
Each artwork begins with its concept, and this topic suggests a working title. I then make extensive sketches with written notations to reduce the concept to visual, symbolic terms prior to beginning the final product. In this way, each piece of material and every dot of paint is deliberately chosen to reiterate my specific concern. I specifically avoid any depiction of human figures or portraiture in this series to discourage the viewer from reducing the work to a singular person, gender, race, color, or creed.
Although these self-contained diptychs may at first appear unrelated and spontaneous, each artwork is carefully crafted. The scale and ground for an individual work is determined by the size of its found objects and by the intimacy of the topic undertaken. Images and forms are necessarily repeated. Some artworks are recycled into new statements. My goal is to integrate layers of glazing and rich underpainting with natural materials and found objects in a manner which enables the ordinary to transcend itself.
In this group of works known as the "Conversations in Grey", I have defined the composition and have established color with the intensity and the methodology of a printmaker. I have modeled the surface and have created form like a sculptor. I have incorporated my chosen text as a journalist, not only to reflect the importance of the dialogue but to entice the viewer to engage in "the Conversation".
Revised 03.09.01 Copyright 2001 B. Sloan. All Rights Reserved