Debra Claffey

"The Julia Chair"
Encaustic, oil, monotype on panel
20" x 20"

Statement

These paintings are visual songs for me—delighted excursions into color, form and texture. I like to combine opacity and translucence, scribbled line against an illusion of depth, thick surfaces with pale washes. They are explorations of the tensions between flat surface and pictorial depth.

My subjects are often plants and everyday objects from my life, arranged to accentuate their varied forms and shapes in complex compositions. I think of them as orchestrations of light and dark, shape and rhythm. The particular objects are not allegorical and do not hold special meaning; rather, the painting is an expression of my perceptions in this particular place and time that can be transmitted across both geography and generations.

I wish to transmit the joy and delight I take in making these paintings and to invite my viewers to take a closer look at their own surroundings to more fully appreciate the magical jumble of color and light we live in.