Leslie Lopez
Houston, TX
Artist's Statement:
After graduating from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, with a BFA, I began creating small gouache and acrylic paintings which combined the natural with the technological. When I began working on a larger surface, the paintings also became representational in their imagery and Surrealistic. I have always had a great interest in exploring the surface and small crevices of various environments (which I have entitled Landscapes) through the use of line, color and how the two interact with the surrounding space. By not painting nature as nature is typically presented, I am creating a visual language through which definite shapes (images and symbols of my spiritual and visual temperaments) form small worlds within one large world, the painting in its entirety. The paintings are conceived from the environments in which I live, as I believe images are stored within the subconscious. These landscapes extend past the boundaries (edges) of their own reality (paper). They are continuous, with the importance and concern of space. In some of the paintings, architectural symbols lead the viewer through the transformation of time. Some of the paintings have a single collage panel incorporated into them furthering the idea of a landscape within a landscape. The smaller works have Surrealistic qualities and were born out of and focus on some of the elements found in the larger Landscapes.
I want to challenge and provoke the viewer to tread through the unfamiliar shapes of these Surrealistic Landscapes, to explore a microscopic section of my reality. To continue developing compositions concerning the landscape, to make intimate, yet compelling paintings, and for my work to have a physical presence for the viewer is important.
