Jeffrey Deane Hall
In my paintings, I explore the idea of remixed culture by creating “mash-ups” of art-historical references, genres, and techniques that operate as personal and social commentary. The visual combination of elements creates a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. These frenetic works are the chaos that is my life: loose strings of relationships, fragments of ideas, all barely held together by humble materials. The codes and anagrams hidden in my work add layers of inquiry about our beliefs and the fragile systems on which they rest. These works ask questions that do not necessarily have answers.
Naturalism versus abstraction, secularism versus faith, reality versus illusion: these juxtapositions are ongoing themes in my work. Hidden in plain sight, riddles are revealed in the layers of painted objects. Beyond the illusion of these paintings there lies an awareness of the struggle to find new meaning in the collision of old ideas. Like an alchemist, I pursue the elusive.