artist statement
Stacey Fletcher Fine Art
Artist Statement
My work is about the power of the metaphors that constitute reality and that which has become symbolic of my reality. Metaphors are symbols that we create through experience to reinterpret reality. The metaphors that drive my work toy with the viewer creating an idea of what is familiar; creating a surface struggling between what we do not see and that which is seen directly. These metaphors are coated inside the body of the work, often hidden, under various layers of luscious materials.
As a cathartic painter, I exhibit work that seek to evoke emotions, questions background, and the journey of ones self. Largely inspired by abstract expressionism, naive mark making, intuitive gestures, and driven by symbolism, the works are abstract at first glace to the viewer, but have some sense of childhood imagery disguised among the colorful layers. The work is fresh with vibrant lively colors, with layered metaphors of myself and others contrasted with the chaotic approach of an energetic mark. My obsession to create marks, and manipulate material through process, creates compositions seen and imagined by demonstrating an intuitive need to record visual observations and experiences. Often these memories, experiences, and observations are recorded using metaphoric universally recognizable symbols. These explorations of material and intuitive mark making create an obsession and need to document and record. For me, this obsession drives the work and motivates each idea.
The works themselves are highly influenced by abstract expressionism, and display a chaotic approach to material and process. It is not just an impulsive approach to gestural mark making, but the love of material and process that trumps the imagery. My work is a process of layering; layering thoughts, memories, and ideas with sensual materials. It is the love of mark making and materials that motivate the paintings. My obsession to make a surplus of marks creates form that becomes an abstraction of the idea.
