This is my 'thang' for a while now. I rummage through flea markets and photo archives or I hit up friends for old family pics. I make large scale paintings of them in a color palette limited to black, white, aqua and iron oxide, which I rust after I finish the piece. I love the time before people were aware of their photo persona: from the teens through the forties ...
Americana on canvas
ARTIST STATEMENT
When I paint, I use a narrow color spectrum. I strip an image down by three criteria: depth of field, shadow and light, and its fight with gravity. I believe it's these rules, by which an observer moves past staring at dried paint and accepts an image for its illusion. When it comes to athletes "the fight" with gravity is especially powerful as they seriously engage in working with it or defying it. Colors, to me, are a way to organize a piece. Painting humans in teal makes them the most noticeable part of the plot. Oxidizing is about letting go and collaging is about discreetly bringing in brash shapes and banal sound bites of the time.
Having been wall-eyed, near-sighted and asthmatic growing up, I would be the last one picked for any team, but we all want to belong and live vicariously through our heroes and favorite clubs. The culture around sports in the States is something I felt was really powerful when I first encountered it. Having briefly been a seamstress, I also fell in love with the gear, especially how it wears and tears. For all its flaws and commerciality, sports are a perfect reflection of Americana and that's what compelled me.
In a time where everything is designed to propel us forward faster and faster, art is one thing that is meant to slow us down and reflect., even if it's just a little.
- Charlotta Janssen
