Bob Hainstock. Valley Dykelands - Don't Ask, 2020

Bob Hainstock. Valley Dykelands - Don't Ask, 2020

painting

2020

Artist Statement

 
The facts of life and career sometimes require the lowest possible human gears for long periods of time; not just a weekend or annual vacation, but removal from all outside distraction for months, and months. Covid 19 forced itself on my art-centered world – a kind of social isolation needed to adjust my creative GPS and realize where I had ended up after 30 years of visual story telling.

I soon realized several important things: 1) that I’d gotten away from the thing that had drawn n me to visual art in the first place – paint on canvas; 2) that I had a rare opportunity to deal visually with opposing elements of uncertainty and hope; and 3) that I could revisit many quiet places for ideas, but with unusual patience with which to find potential.

Decisions were easy. Go back to painting but with the goal of not being afraid to leave unanswered questions in many painted canvases. Also, explore formats like triptych s as a new option for visual story telling, where eac h of the three panels become a chapter in the overall narrative. That darkening period of 2020 became the most productive in my studio lifetime, a momentum that has continued into 2021. Thank you, Covid

Bob Hainstock

copyright, Bob Hainstock

painting