HILARY WALMSLEY

  

"Art is something absolute, something positive, which gives power just as food gives power."

Hans Hofman, on the importance of art in life, and in our culture

Making art is both active play and hard work, both blissful flow and hellish torment.  I aim to create an aesthetic experience for the viewer - an immersion in sublime color, fascinating texture, expressive gesture, or mesmerizing atmosphere.  Harmony, unity, and simplicity are my goals.

I enjoy gestural and expressionist drawing and painting, and also experiment a lot with Lyrical Abstraction and Abstract Expressionist processes.  Having lived and worked internationally, I've been fortunate to study the work of masters in different cultures.  Minimalism and Art Brut influence my work as well.  My inspiration and energy often come from nature, so my work often has an earthy, primitive, or sometimes even raw, quality to it.  In spite of master influences, I am an independent thinker (personally, politically, spiritually) and this individualism also comes across in my art.

The architect Ludwig van der Rohe said "An interesting plainness is the most difficult and precious thing to achieve".  This quote sums up my biggest challenge as an artist, along with not enough hours in the day.  My groups of work are usually based upon a narrow color scheme, a featured media formulation, a gestural style, and/or a distinct textural element.  Paring down to bare essentials enables me to really focus on maximizing the effects of particular color and/or texture combinations in compositions.  Monochrome work particularly interests me. 

My background and specialism in teamwork and teambuilding impact the way my art develops.  I create synergy between works, sometimes in different media.  The interaction that results from multiple works with a common theme being displayed together is exciting.  Even individual works can be a collaboration, for example paintings that are 'flat sculptures'.

There is an on-going internal battle between the adventurous sensation-seeking excitement loving side of my personality and the gentle sensitive calm-seeking introverted side.  In making art I turn this to my advantage. Bringing both these aspects of myself into my work gives it greater depth and complexity, and allows me to go with my mood of the moment. 

 "The job of the artist is to uplift man's soul."  Seroff character in film Local Color

"All art is dedicated to joy."  Friedrich Schiller

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