Exploring the Opposite
Paintings by William Grace-Burchett
This show represents two bodies of work, Industrial paintings and landscapes. The industrial works are aesthetic explorations of outdated, soon-to-expire dilapidated factories, decaying buildings, freight trains and mechanical parts that permeate certain areas here in the Bay. I found something interesting about how places and objects looked, how they reacted with light, form, color and texture. My aim is to capture being in the presence of these places and transfer it to the viewer. Looking at these subjects as visually pleasing may be a bit odd to some but that’s what made it more compelling for me to paint. This is often an outlook of appreciating the often overlooked.
Having worked on this theme for a couple years I have progressed to natural landscapes. Different from painting the intricacies of human engineering and industrial constructions. The ‘Stranded in Tunisia’ (bus painting) marks the transition away from purely industrial paintings and incorporates the barren desert – a merger of the two if you will. This prompted me to start producing landscapes.
The sea/sky paintings are the beginning of a ‘Pacific Coast’ series. After travelling along much of Highway 1 and visiting the multitude of beaches along the way it, seemed an obvious theme. Most people love looking at and being near the ocean. Although painted thousands of times by thousands of artists it never gets old. I have so far really enjoyed producing these works and it has been a refreshing change from hard textured industrial pieces. Capturing the suns effect on the water, sky and land and the rich colors it produces has been challenging. It has also given me a better insight into how water behaves and the endless variations it displays. Hopefully these paintings evoke a feeling of calm and tranquility for the viewer and takes them away for a moment.
