James Woodside
Gallery Affiliations: Mark Sublette Modern, McGowan Fine Art
Region: Northeast
Website: http://www.jameswoodside.com
City / State: Framingham, MA
For me, painting is a kind of personal testimony to the power and excitement of a particular place, form, or environment. As I work, I try to simplify and distill whatever I’m looking at into a logic that makes sense for me in paint. At some point in the process of observing and trying to represent a particular environment, the needs of the painting itself take over and it becomes the living thing, the thing I respond to.
A direct and clear response to the “power of place” is what interests me. That’s what I’d like my paintings to convey. I do my paintings from direct observation and I complete them on-site. Working quickly, I try to maintain a direct and emphatic relationship with the subject matter I’m painting. Hopefully, this helps the work to maintain a fresh, in-the-moment credibility and a sense of authenticity.