Biff Elrod web site


		"Laugh" 1988, 24 X 36 inches, oil on canvas -permanent collection of the Roswell Museum,Roswell, New Mexico
			ARTIST STATEMENT

I like the idea that a painting can present itself directly to any number of viewers, in various cultural settings, and on a variety of levels. Nice to think that the shared visual language of painting and photography can produce an element of global culture that might transcend any specific location.
The universal that I see in what we call "art" is the veracity of the intentions of the producer. I feel that this veracity is more important to the quality and durability of the produced item than either "form' or "content".
My aim is to design work that presents itself clearly on first impression, but also, that continues to reveal it’s content beyond that initial encounter. Perhaps in common with many others, I wish to make my work durable to the passage of time and trends.

Regarding technique, my paintings have often consisted of built-up layers of thin transparent color, overlapping to form color mixes. Frequently, there will be final layers of thicker, opaque paint. Much of the early work was painted onto a rough, applied surface consisting of cotton and liquid polymer emulsion. Also , beginning in 1993 most work was painted largely with a tool of my own design to produce mutiple (pixel) dots.
Color is always invented and interpretive.
The reference images for my work have freely ranged between drawings, personal black and white ( and occasionally) color, photos, found photos, drawing from life, and invention from the imagination. References are always altered and reconstructed during combination and are never photo-mechanically (opaque projector, etc.) transferred to the canvas. Rather, the images are drawn on with a brush, often using a (4x4 inch/10cm) grid-transfer system.
For the last decade, the early stages of the image configuration have been done on a computer. Most ultimate decisions are reserved for the formation processes of the painting, and enabled only by human limitations. It is not unusual for me to start with a section of imagery, not yet knowing what will be added, and gradually find other ingredients as intuition and resolution of the painting evolve.
Overall, it is important to me that each painting be unique from others that I have produced. Since I think of my work as “inquiry” - some paintings may start by asking the same question. But I feel it is important to the endeavor that each unfolding resolution provide a different answer.

Biff Elrod
2010
New York City