R Dugger Houston

 “In my work, Beauty is the central focus and objective. Beauty in art over the last century has moved from a supreme ideal, to become oddly a trite and even offensive concept. A notion that art could only be valuable and important if it was focused on social or political ideas and concerns took hold and the word Beauty was re-cast to mean decoration in the most pejorative sense. I do not believe that I hold special knowledge or power to see Beauty where others do not. Rather, my role is to be a catalyst and to encourage others to reawaken this power within themselves. My work provides an opportunity for the viewer to enjoy Beauty in multiple layers mystically - meaning directly and without need for an ‘interpreter’. While a focus on concept is a powerful role that art can play, the abandonment of Beauty is a tragedy for art and society at large. Without artists to lead the charge for Beauty, our entire culture has lost sight of how Beauty can be wrapped into all aspects of our daily lives. My painting focuses on color and space. I have been heavily influenced by the art and style of the Nabis, specifically Edouard Vuillard. While painting representational images of figures and scenes, they saw their work less as depiction and more as the exterior display of metaphor and symbols native to themselves as artists. Their work, like my own, was a tool in the search for Beauty. I grew up in a family of artists: my mother and father were both painters and photographers. Our house was filled with art and music, and ever changing as we moved about every three years during my school years. I received my BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design and my MFA from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. I have lived all over the US and in Italy, and currently reside in Placitas, New Mexico, a small village in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Statement: I have always considered myself a colorist. My paintings use color to describe light and space, but perhaps more importantly, to create emotion and energy. I use color to play with the space often flattening or flipping foreground and background spaces, based on feeling and the mood the painting calls for, rather than the desire to illustrate data about an image. I paint with egg tempera, a centuries old technique where pure pigment is mixed into fresh egg yolk as a binder. Because the paint is mixed in small quantities as I paint (it dries very quickly) immediacy is called for in decisions about color, making the paintings more like a dance that happens in the moment. The finished work remains fresh and vibrant, speaking to the way it was created. These are representative of my work with color, the human form and the environment in which we live.”

Hero

Egg Tempera on canvas

24" x 18" x 1"

$1,200.00

2018