TOM WALTON
I find the subject matter for my paintings and drawings in my everyday world. My paintings begin with the impulse to fulfill my curiosity about the subject. As I translate a chair or a person to a two-dimensional surface through paint or line the painting becomes a thing in and of itself, I become equally engaged in observing its natural evolution. As I am painting the emotional content of the image reveals itself, the painting becomes a balancing act: on the one hand completely letting go and embracing the sub-conscious and on the other engaging with the formal aspects of the image. Remaining present in the process gives me insight into my relationship to the subject, and to myself.
I have two transitory processes I am engaged in while painting. The first is observing the subject matter; I want to find out why I am interested in the subject as I paint it. The second is responding to the painting itself. When I paint a person I want who they are to inform the nature of the painting process as much as I do. The emotion conveyed in the figures is often a surprise to me; they often come across as sad or contemplative, and while this is not an emotion I am consciously attempting to capture I have found that I am drawn to this aspect of people and perhaps in myself.
The paintings do not have a determined finishing point, I stop painting them when the subject has moved on or another subject has come into focus. I feel that all of my works are still moving; even if I am not adding to them, I am still viewing them, their evolution is ongoing.