Paul Vogeler December, 2010.
Artist Statement
Birch forests, First World War photography, dilapidated barns, sparrows, swamps and marshes, and snow covered fields are constant sources of visual inspiration. I also draw upon memory and personal experience, and much of my initial exploration with WWI battlefields grew out of recurring dreams where I acted the part of soldier. All of my paintings, figurative or not, are self-portraits. I express a feeling of disillusionment and isolation in our contemporary era, while investigating the irrationality of man. Painting is a process of inward search and self-discovery and outward expression.
Through use of a limited palette, I attempt to evoke a specific feeling or mood, or touch upon a universally shared memory of place. My color choices assist in creating an independent world within the painting. Beauty is a subjective term and I see beauty in many things. My birds are a more classical approach to beauty, but I also see the beauty in a lone birch in the snow, or the decay of a bog or swamp, or a forest ravaged by fire. Beauty is present in ugliness. With painting, I strive to investigate and express the human condition; ultimately, I seek truth.