Damien Hoar de Galvan
Region: Northeast
For brevity’s sake, I’ll call these painted sculptural objects. They begin as amorphous ideas that then develop, grow, and change as they are built. Through trial, error, and intuitive play they become stand-alone objects representing my time and displaying the different marks and choices that were made along the way. I refer to the finished shapes as abstract and prefer their meaning to ultimately be that. That being said, they can resemble specific things such as heads, vessels, or architectural bits, and these references can help me determine how a piece will end up. There is a quote attributed to Søren Kierkegaard (and used in the movie Wayne’s World) that goes something like “Once you label me, you negate me,” and I often think about this when being asked what my work is about. I think it’s best to leave those types of questions vague so as not to restrict multiple interpretations about something that doesn’t actually have a direct, concise meaning.